Crimen in Verbis: The Crafting Style of Crime Narratives and Its Reflection of Criminal Behavior Dimensions

• In Event: Narrative Criminology 3: Desistance and behaviour

Abstract

While Narrative Criminology has predominantly focused on the content of crime narratives, relatively little attention has been paid to the structural aspects of how these narratives are crafted. This study highlights the significance of analyzing the "crafting style" of crime narratives—the distinct ways in which stories are organized and presented—offering crucial insights into various dimensions of criminal behavior. By examining how offenders construct their narratives, this research demonstrates that crafting styles are not only indicative of distinctions between recidivism and one-time offending, but also reveal temporal variations in criminal careers, from early offenses to more structured criminal trajectories. Moreover, an analysis of crafting styles uncovers differences in how individuals recount the same events from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, shedding light on the fluidity and strategic reframing of crime narratives. Through a systematic review of narrative structures, this study advocates for a deeper integration of structural analysis into criminological research, broadening our understanding of the relationship between storytelling and criminal behavior.

Author

• Fabio I. M. Poppi, University of Łódź, Poland/Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania