Lyckas mot alla odds : Protektiva faktorer i upphörandeprocessen vid brottslig verksamhet

Sammanfattning: The aim of the present study was to investigate the criminal career, focusing on factors of importance for quitting an ongoing severe criminal career. First a pilot study was performed on 15 young male criminals, for which an interview guide concerning life situation and background characteristics was applied and revised for further developing into a questionnaire (Study I). Further 100 male recidivists, aged 30-38 yrs and incarcerated in prisons in the region of Stockholm, Sweden, were studied. The subjects filled in a self-administered questionnaire on background factors, e.g., debut in crime and addiction, upbringing, values, and quality of social networks (Study II). The subjects were then interviewed according to the revised interview guide regarding life situation, e.g., criminality, addiction, quality of social networks, lodging situation, economic status, work and leisure-time (Study III). Self-reported personality traits were investigated using KSP, EPQ-I and SSS inventories (Study IV). Inclusion criteria were that the subject had at least three prior convictions to prison and at least a total of one year of prison served. At a follow-up three years after release from prison, registered criminal activity was assessed and subjects were grouped according to recidivism level. The subjects free of convictions displayed higher quality in upbringing conditions, relationships, and lodging situation; they also differed in self-reported evaluation of addiction and criminal life-style. Furthermore, they showed a later debut in addiction, and were less likely to live with addicted partners. Concerning personality, results indicated that individuals with higher extraversion and cognitive-psychic anxiety were less likely to be reconvicted, while individuals with higher irritability and sensation seeking traits were more likely to become reconvicted during the follow-up period. The results are discussed in terms of an interactional model of the crime quitting process