Living on the Edge: Young Offenders and Emotive Offending

ABSTRACT

This research article aims to determine the value of experiential and emotive offending by enquiring, to what extent alternative ways of thinking about risk can serve as a more useful framework for understanding risk-taking behaviour. It is suggested that offending is better understood as pleasurable and positive experience; adding an additional dimension to current criminological and sociological debates by uncovering aspects of risk which individuals deliberately engage with in an attempt to alter the fabric of their everyday. The study’s overall contribution to knowledge proposes a more comprehensive and realistic approach for the application of research-based strategies and the future direction of research agendas.

Notes

¹ Lyng acknowledges that his use of the term “Edgework” is taken from the writings of Hunter S. Thompson in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (New York: Warner, 1971), who uses the term edgework to describe a variety of anarchic human experiences, the most famous being his experimentation with drugs.

² The data derives from the research project evaluation, Clear Track: The Virtual Young Offenders’ Institution, commissioned by the Home Office. The five-year study was also undertaken as part of my doctorate, for the purposes of data sharing within the remit of Newcastle University’s intellectual property agreement.

³ In part this intentional outcome is produced by ingesting mind-altering substances, such as alcohol and controlled or prescribed drugs, in so much that drugs can produce euphoric feelings (as well as unfavorable emotional, physiological and psychological side effects). Also referred to as psychotropic substances—a chemical substance that acts primarily on the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior.

⁴ It is recognized (by scholars and medical practitioners) that drug users who desire an altered state of reality may find that quantities of substance use need to be increased in order to produce the same level or quality of euphoria due to an increased physiological tolerance (in essence physical dependence or addiction) (Atkinson et al. 1990).

⁵ Berne’s thesis on the game of Cops and Robbers includes ‘the thrill of the chase: the getaway and the cool-off’ (1964:116).

⁶ For Berne there are two types of offenders: the “compulsive winner” and “the compulsive loser.” The compulsive winner has a tendency to become a professional criminal and thus is not interested in playing the game. For a compulsive winner a satisfactory outcome to the game is not being caught but instead making a financial profit from their criminal behavior. A compulsive loser however, who is playing the game, seldom makes a financial profit from their criminal behavior. Instead they become more concerned with the benefits of losing the game that involve being chased and being caught (Berne 1964:117).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danna-Mechelle Lewis

DANNA-MECHELLE LEWIS is currently working as a Research Fellow/Senior Research Officer for the Crime and Policing Group, Home Office, UK. She received commendation from the Permanent Home Secretary for recognition as one of the department’s top performers for two consecutive years, 2014/15 and 2015/16. She has previously worked as Project Manager of an evaluation study: “A Virtual Prison for Young Offenders” (Principle Investigator: Professor Campbell) undertaken by Newcastle University, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Home Office (Chief Inspector: Dame Owers); and was Regional Evaluator for the Youth Inclusion Evaluation (Northern Region), undertaken by Newcastle University. In 2004, she was presented with the Miller Prize at Newcastle University for best performance in research. Her research interests include youth justice, risk and risk-taking, and forensic practice. She has both technical and peer-reviewed publications including topics such as rethinking risk, responding to a violent incident, the changing face of crime, and how important are prisons as a locality within the community.