RT Article
T1 When peaceful people fight: beyond neutralization and subcultural theory
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 59
IS 6
SP 1309
OP 1327
A1 Sandberg, Seveinung
A2 Copes, Heith 1970-
A2 Pedersen, Willy 1952-
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/167784339X
AB Fights are widespread in society, but for most people it happens once or twice and is not part of a consistent pattern or lifestyle. Using a narrative criminological framework, we study the stories of violence among people who otherwise seldom engage in violent behaviour. The young Norwegians we interviewed, emphasized that their fights emerged as a response to insults, was fuelled by drinking and could be exciting. Participants had negative evaluations of their fights, took the blame for them, talked down their importance and self-critically used humour to ridicule their involvement. Our study demonstrates the shortcomings of subcultural and neutralization theories when it comes to understanding violent behaviour among those who rarely engage in it.
K1 Narrative criminology
K1 Subcultural theory
K1 Neutralization
K1 Violence
K1 Fights
DO 10.1093/bjc/azz032