In this groundbreaking work, Lois Presser investigates the life stories of men who have perpetrated violence. She applies insights from across the academy to in-depth interviews with men who shared their accounts of how they became the people we most fear--those who rape, murder, assault, and rob, often repeatedly. Been a Heavy Life provides the discipline of criminology with two crucial frameworks: one for critically evaluating the construction of offenders' own stories, and one for grasping the cultural meta-narratives that legitimize violence. For social scientists generally, this book offers a vivid demonstration of just how dynamic and contingent self-narratives are.

An investigation of how violent men negotiate their own narrative identities to construct themselves as decent, masculine, and heroic

About the Author
Lois Presser is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Reviews
"Interviews of 27 men convicted of violent crime . . . presented in the context of a mass imprisonment binge, illustrate individual struggles and broader issues related to the politics of criminalization and criminal justice. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice
"A must-read for anyone interested in critical criminology, violent offending, or qualitative methods. . . . Presser provides a unique and fresh new perspective into cultural narratives that legitimate violence."--Critical Criminology



Book Information
ISBN 9780252075582
Author Lois Presser
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 10mm