ABSTRACT
The goal of this qualitative essay is to approach the knowledge of people who commit crimes.
From a development psychology point of view, questions relating to childhood and growth are some of the important subjects we choose to discuss. Our purpose is also to reveal the linkage between criminal behaviour and different theories of the above mentioned
perspective. To bridge the gap between the general and the individual, our survey was based on profound interviews with four inmates in prison. This offer an opportunity to capture the individual’s inner thoughts, feelings and experience about the criminal action.
The result exemplifies episodes through quotations from the inmates’ childhood, different experience concerning attachment, training in school, relations, offence, relapse etc. The theme of the inmates narratives support many of the different theories we examined, similar patterns appeared and could be found from there common experience.
In Swedish with summary in English.
Keywords: criminal acts, attachment, relapse, prison, release
