“You and your laws and us with our laws” : a murderer’s stories navigate conflicting normative domains

Birkbeck, CH; Rodríguez, JA

Abstract

Employing Labov’s structural model of stories
and Schönbach’s typology of accounts, we
examine an interview with a murderer in
Venezuela and compare two stories that were
narrated within it: one about the murder and
one about his family life. While most of the
first story accounted for the murder by calling
on values and norms that attach to the
criminal subculture, it also evaluated the
crime from the perspective of a conventional
framework that recognized the importance of
family. The second story was set within that
same family framework, revealing a conflict
between different normative demands made
on the murderer. He resolved it by finally
giving primacy to his subcultural values and
identity.

Citation

Birkbeck, C., & Rodríguez, J. (2021). “You and your laws and us with our laws” : a murderer’s stories navigate conflicting normative domains. Dilemas : Revista de Estudos de Conflito e Controle Social (Impresso), 14(3), 641-658. https://doi.org/10.4322/dilemas.v14n3.43542

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 19, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 16, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 11, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 11, 2021
• Journal: Dilemas - Revista de Estudos de Conflito e Controle Social
• Print ISSN: 1983-5922
• Electronic ISSN: 2178-2792
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 641-658
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4322/dilemas.v14n3.43542
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.4322/dilemas.v14n3.43542
• Related Public URLs: https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/dilemas/index
• Additional Information: Projects : Situation and Significance of Violent Juvenile Behavior