Offenders on Offending: Learning about Crime from Criminals

Our knowledge of crime is based on three types of sources: the criminal justice system, victims, and offenders. For technological and other reasons the criminal justice system produces an increasing stream of information on crime. The rise of the victimization survey has given the victims a much larger role in our study of crime. There is, however, no concomitant development regarding offenders. This is an unfortunate because offenders are the experts when it comes to offending. In order to understand criminal behavior, we need their perspective. This is not always a straightforward process, however, and information from offenders is often unreliable. This book is about what we can do to maximise the validity of what offenders tell us about their offending. We will take stock of various methods to elicit information on offending from offenders, addressing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these methods, and discussing strategies to obtain the collaboration of offenders and to maximize the validity and reliability of the data. The emphasis will be on methods that aim to collect tangible information on behavior. Renowned experts from various countries present their experiences and insights, with a clear focus on methodological issues of fieldwork among various types of offender populations.