Criminal Identity and Social Networks

This research aims to investigate the relationship between identity of current and former inmates (how inmates see themselves) and their social networks (people in inmates’ lives). Such a relationship has implications for their criminal behavior. This project is vital to the understanding, intervention, and prevention of criminal behavior. Academically, the research will link sociological social psychology, social network analysis, and criminology. This project will reveal mechanisms of the interaction between inmates’ identities and social networks and predict identity salience (likelihood of certain identity activation) with network characteristics.
Primary data are interviews and surveys and analyzed qualitatively. The primary findings are: first, family serves as supporter or enabler of criminal behavior. Sometimes peer groups and perpetrators of the focal person are surrogates of family in the absence of the family. Second, inmates identify themselves as a “disappointing” member to their family and other inmates as “bad” people which suggests that they have internalized the dichotomy used by the larger society when judging inmates and others by turning to two generalized others: their family and the larger society.
I plan to collect 1,000 more responses with former inmates (500) and current inmates (500) and 30 more interviews (20 with former inmates and 10 with current inmates). I have obtained IRB approval to interview and survey former inmates. I have received a research solicitation letter and I am applying for access. I anticipate the survey data targeting the current and former inmate populations will continue to be relevant to this topic.