Robert Agnew's Why Do Criminals Offend?

Beginnings are an opportunity for change and with previously or currently incarcerated women the time for change is determined by successful reintegrations. The process of living in a society gives humans opportunities to fulfill many roles and with women these roles can include things such as students, mothers, wives, daughters, and any career path they choose. Self-identity can become conflicted when the needs of these roles are not met and meeting societal standards can become extremely stressful when the life domains (family, school, work, peers, personality) are conflicting. Whether through a mistake, or conducive behavior, incarcerated women face a challenge of becoming part of community again upon release. While many factors go into …show more content…
about factors that lead to crime. Life domains are the main component contributing to crime and are also the areas affected by one’s definition of success. The web of crime shows how life domains influence delinquent behavior and also alter one’s opinion of success. “Many criminals are trapped in this web, that is, their personality traits and family, school, peer, and work experiences are all conducive to crime and all work to mutually reinforce one another” (Agnew, pg. 66). While successful reintegration starts internally with self-determination, external factors are critical in the completion of re-joining a community. If the life domains are conflicting then this creates tension or a barrier of achieving goals. Connections of people in society also create another web or hierarchy that can determine which women can achieve reintegration from incarceration. “Social capital is what ultimately determines who wins and loses in terms of access to success” (Grebstein & Van Wyk, pg.48). Many women find that having access to resources and finances help successful reintegration because it gives them opportunities to push forward in the community. Some women are not connected with support networks or resources that can offer this type of need and this affects how they reintegrate. “Everyone sits in some place doing a continuum that stretches from non criminal to criminal, and theories identify and explain which …show more content…
The key components of this process included internal as well as external factors. “Social exclusion has dire consequences for women’s self-esteem and ability to successfully reintegrate into the community” (Heidemann, Cederbaum & Martinez, pg. 25). Part of the criteria for this study included the women living in community for at least 3 months after post-release because the factors allowing successful reintegration or preventing it would be consciously known. Many interesting factors were prominent in successful reintegration of incarcerated women and some things that Beyond Recidivism found were having the ability to assist others in their lives, getting their number back which is a term meaning free from the criminal justice system (Heidemann, Cederbaum & Martinez, Pg 32). Beginnings are an opportunity to diminish old habits and incarcerated women took reintegration as a chance to start new. “Success was conceptualized as an internal “shift” away from a previous lifestyle and toward a new one comprised of activity and continuously freeing themselves from forces that once kept them enslaved” (Heidemann, Cederbaum & Martinez, pg. 36). Many internal processes are involved in reintegration because the women have to accept themselves as who they were and make the steps in the right direction to fix previous