TY - JOUR
T1 - In the name of love
T2 - A narrative analysis of a Chinese single mother's rational and emotional pathways into and out of crime
AU - Liu, Liu
AU - Chui, Wing Hong
AU - Hu, Yiqian
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This study was funded by The National Social Science Fund of the People's Republic of China (19BSH029).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Adopting rational choice theory, this study assesses both rational and emotional aspects in understanding pathways into and out of crime through the narrative analysis of a Chinese female offender living in Hong Kong, China. We found that poverty enmeshed this divorced, single mother in a commitment problem with a moral dilemma entwined with rational and emotional considerations. We argue that emotional themes, including sadness, hope, love, satisfaction, frustration, and faith should be taken into consideration to fully understand women's choices in committing or desisting from crimes. Understanding this single mother's gendered and reasonable emotional expression and incorporating moral considerations into her rationale are pivotal in extending rational choice theory to successful prevention of female crime and the correction and desistance of female offenders.
AB - Adopting rational choice theory, this study assesses both rational and emotional aspects in understanding pathways into and out of crime through the narrative analysis of a Chinese female offender living in Hong Kong, China. We found that poverty enmeshed this divorced, single mother in a commitment problem with a moral dilemma entwined with rational and emotional considerations. We argue that emotional themes, including sadness, hope, love, satisfaction, frustration, and faith should be taken into consideration to fully understand women's choices in committing or desisting from crimes. Understanding this single mother's gendered and reasonable emotional expression and incorporating moral considerations into her rationale are pivotal in extending rational choice theory to successful prevention of female crime and the correction and desistance of female offenders.
KW - Crime
KW - Female offender
KW - Poverty
KW - Rational choice theory
KW - Reasonable emotion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131066130&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ajss.2022.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ajss.2022.04.003
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85131066130
SN - 1568-4849
VL - 50
SP - 276
EP - 283
JO - Asian Journal of Social Science
JF - Asian Journal of Social Science
IS - 4
ER -