Abstract
In this chapter, through numerous in-depth ethnographies, I explore the biographical accounts of several violent men that have committed serious criminal offences. Some of the men in this chapter have served custodial sentences for committing acts of homicide. All the men, however, have been part of organised crime networks, with some being involved in criminal operations beyond the West Midlands. In addition to exploring their criminal activities, I present rich narratives of these men through their life histories, which in turn provides an understanding of harms inflicted on them, and the harms that they have inflicted on others. To provide a persuasive analysis, theoretically I decipher biographical and reflexive accounts of these men through psychoanalysis and Bourdieusian epistemologies. Indeed, it is through narrative accounts that I present what I have coined: scenarios of harm, and how imaginary situations contribute towards the shaping of an individual’s street habitus (Wacquant in American Journal of Sociology 107: 1468–1532, 2002; Sandberg and Pedersen in Street Capital: Black Cannabis Dealers in a White Welfare State. Policy Press, Bristol, 2009; Fraser in Journal of Youth Studies 16: 970–985, 2013), and how this then valorizes their capital and position within the field. Ultimately, I draw towards a speculative suggestion that the containment of harmful dispositions becomes integral for a person’s behaviour, interaction and trajectory in the underworld.
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail… If you’re prepared to fight, then when it comes down to it there won’t be no problems.
—Clive
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the Street: Race and Class in an Urban Community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Anggard, E. (2005). Making Pictures: A Part of Preschool Children’s Peer Cultures. Diss: Linkoping University.
Bakkali, Y. (2019). Dying to Live: Youth Violence and Munpain. The Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026119842012.
Berlant, L. G. (2011). Cruel Optimism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1985). The Genesis of the Concepts of Habitus and Field. Sociocriticism, 2(2), 11–24.
Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social Space and Symbolic Power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14–25.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). Logic of Social Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The Field of Cultural Production. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. (1992). An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourgois, P. (2003). In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Deuchar, R. (2009). Gang, Marginalised Youth and Social Capital. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Book.
Deuchar, R. (2013). Policing Youth Violence: Transatlantic Connections. London: Trentham Books/IOE Press.
Deuchar, R. (2018). Gangs and Spirituality: Global Perspectives. London: Palgrave.
Einat, T. (2004, April 14–15). Language, Culture, Identity and Coping in Israeli Prisons. Paper presented at Cropwood Conference, 2004, The Effects of Imprisonment: An International Symposium, Robinson College, Cambridge.
Einat, T., & Einat, H. (2000). Inmate Argot as an Expression of Prison Subculture: The Israeli Case. The Prison Journal, 80(3), 309–325.
Ellis, A., Winlow, S., & Hall, S. (2017). ‘Throughout My Life I’ve Had People Walk All Over Me’: Trauma in the Lives of Violent Men. The Sociological Review, 65(4), 1–15.
Fraser, A. (2015). Urban Legends: Gang Identity in the Post-Industrial City. London: Oxford University Press.
Freud, S. (1923). The Ego and the Id. SE, 19: 1–66.
Freud, S. (2010). The Ego and the Id. Washington, DC: Pacific Publishing Studios.
Glynn, M. (2014). Black Men, Invisibility and Crime: Towards a Critical Race Theory of Desistance. Abingdon: Routledge.
Grundetjern, H., & Sandberg, S. (2012). Dealing with a Gendered Economy: Female Drug Dealers and Street Capital. European Journal of Criminology, 9(6), 621–635.
Hall, S. (2012). Theorizing Crime and Deviance: A New Perspective. London: Sage.
Hanks, W. F. (2005). Pierre Bourdieu and the Practices of Language. The Annual Review of Anthropology, 34, 67–83.
Harvey, D. (2005). Neo Liberalism: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holligan, C., & Deuchar, R. (2014). What Does It mean to Be a Man? Psychosocial Undercurrents in the Voices of Incarcerated (Violent) Scottish Teenage Offenders. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 15(3), 361–377.
Katz, J. (1988). Seductions of Crime. New York: Basic Books.
Maruna, S. (2001). Making Good: How Ex-convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives. Worcester: American Psychological Association.
Mullins, C. (2006). Holding Your Square: Masculinities, Streetlife and Violence. Devon: Willan Publishing.
Muncie, J. (2009). Youth and Crime. London: Sage.
Ohlin, J. (1956). Sociology and the Field of Corrections. New York: Social Science Council.
Parker, T. (1970). The Frying Pan: A Prison and Its Prisoners. London: Panther.
Polk, K. (1998). Violence, Masculinity and Evolution: A Comment on Wilson and Daly. Theoretical Criminology, 2(4), 461–469.
Polk, K. (1999). Males and Honor Contest Violence. Homicide Studies, 3(1), 6–29.
Presser, L., & Sandberg, S. (2015). Introduction: What Is the Story? In L. Presser & S. Sandberg (Eds.), Narrative Criminology: Understanding Stories of Crime (pp. 1–22). London: New York University Press.
Ritchie, J. (2014). Book Review: Psychosocial Criminology. Social and Legal Studies, 23(1), 141.
Robinson, R. A., & Ryder, J. A. (2013). Psychosocial Perspectives of Girls and Violence: Implications for Policy and Practice. Critical Criminology, 21, 431–445.
Roy, K. (2006). Father Stories: A Life Course Examination of Paternal Identity Among Low Income African Men. Journal of Family Issues, 27(1), 31–54.
Sandberg, S. (2008). Street Capital: Ethnicity and Violence on the Streets of Oslo. Theoretical Criminology, 12(2), 153–171.
Sandberg, S., & Pedersen, W. (2009). Street Capital: Black Cannabis Dealers in a White Welfare State. Bristol: Policy Press.
Shammas, V. L., & Sandberg, S. (2015). Bringing Bourdieu to Criminology: Notes on Street Capital and Field Theory. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 16(2), 195–213.
Sykes, G., & Messinger, S. (1960). The Inmate Social System. In R. Cloward (Ed.), Theoretical Studies in Social Organization of the Prison. New York: Social Science Council.
Thrasher, F. (1927). The Gang: A Study of 1313 in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wacquant, L. (2002). Scrutinizing the Street: Poverty, Morality, and the Pitfalls of Urban Ethnography. American Journal of Sociology, 107(6), 1468–1532.
Winlow, S., & Hall, S. (2010). Retaliate First: Memory, Humiliation and Male Violence. Crime, Media, Culture, 5(3), 285–304.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rahman, M. (2019). Violent Men: Trauma, Humiliation and Scenarios of Harm. In: Homicide and Organised Crime. Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16253-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16253-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16252-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16253-5
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)