Been a Heavy Life: Stories of Violent Men

By Lois Presser

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252075587
• ISBN13: 9780252075582
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.8"