Stabbing to get to prison:Biography as an encounter with the criminal mind

Stabbing someone because of a minor altercation and then turning yourself in, knowing that you will be convicted of a serious crime, doesn’t seem to make sense. One needs to know the perpetrator and the life he lived in order to understand the why and how of this offence. Doing research for writing an authorized biography enables such deep immersion, because of the quality of data gathered on the single person. While it is common in criminology, as well as for writing a biography, to use a structured approach and stress context and background factors, in this study an interaction perspective is added to include what happens in the foreground. “An encounter with the criminal mind” can be understood as a personal meeting with a protagonist who commits crimes, but it can also refer to a close look at the criminal act and bring to the surface what the protagonist was thinking and feeling at that time

Kickboxing, a Moroccan route to success?

Loïc Wacquant conducted ethnographic research in the ghetto of Chicago and describes the route to social mobility that black boxers try to follow as they train in the gym and build body capital. Based on similar research methods, this article compares the black boxers to two episodes of kickboxing in Amsterdam. Wacquant is not hopeful when it comes to social mobility of the boxers, as he sees their boxing careers as confirmation of their low position in society. In the first Dutch episode, kickboxers manage to combine body work in the gym with working in the nightlife economy. They make money but are unaware of the danger of getting involved in criminal activities, and a number of fighters end up in prison or even dead. Currently, kickboxing is very popular with young Moroccans. Having seen what went wrong in the previous episode, Moroccan trainers keep a close watch on their pupils, and make sure they realize that what happens outside and after kickboxing is what really matters