Abstract
In Crime, Shame, and Reintegration, John Braithwaite argues that communitarian societies are better able than others to reintegrate lawbreakers by shaming the offence without permanently stigmatizing the offender. Although Braithwaite focuses on crime rates, a logical corollary of his argument is that such societies should also exhibit markedly low rates of offender recidivism. In this paper, we examine offender recidivism in Iceland, a country that exhibits many of the social organizational hallmarks of communitarianism and relies heavily on shaming as a method of social control. Following Braithwaite then, Iceland should have a lower rate of recidivism than less socially integrated societies. Contrary to this expectation, results indicate that Icelandic recidivism rates closely approximate those of other nations, many of which are far less communitarian. We conclude by considering the role of recidivism in promoting social cohesion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 40-59 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | British Journal of Criminology |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2002 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:* Eric P. Baumer, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Richard Wright, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Kristrun Kristinsdottir, Iceland Ministry of Justice; Helgi Gunnlaugsson, University of Iceland. This research was supported by grants from the University of Missouri Research Board and the Icelandic Research Council. We thank the Icelandic Ministry of Justice for helping to make our research possible and the Icelandic Prison and Probation Administration for compiling the data needed for our research.