Patterns of Relevance and Value Orientation

Abstract

The knowledge of the longitudinal and the cross section of the lives of (recidivist) offenders rests mainly upon a comprehensive investigation of the socially relevant behavior of the subjects in the various spheres. In the statistical analysis and even more so in the formation of ideal types, it became apparent that the gap between the O- and the G-specific characteristics and criteria as well as the criminorelevant constellations and positions of the offense in the longitudinal section cannot be understood from the perspective of (external) social behavior alone. It is possible to gain access to the differences between the O- and the G-group by considering not only the mere presence of facts, circumstances, or characteristics, but also, beyond the external behavior of the subjects, the underlying “attitudes” (see Part II, Sect. 3.4.4) which enable certain situations to develop or which lead the subjects to react differently to certain situations in life.