Questo lavoro si pone come obiettivo la verifica del legame esistente tra esperienza di carcerazione e rischio di recidiva. Il punto di partenza è costituito dall'esame delle teorie della pena a partire dal contributo della sociologia. L'approdo teorico di questa analisi è la rilevazione delle ambivalenze e dei nodi irrisolti dell'agire punitivo, che trovano piena esplicazione nella forma di penalità per eccellenza dell'epoca moderna: il carcere. Di quest'ultimo vengono esaminati gli esiti criminogeni e le finalità che contrastano con gli obiettivi risocializzanti dell'agire punitivo. Da questa riflessione scaturisce la convinzione, comune a molti sociologi, che esista un legame tra carcere e recidiva. La ricerca empirica intende verificare l'esistenza di questo legame, attraverso la ricostruzione del punto di vista del soggetto deviante. Mediante la realizzazione di interviste in profondità a un gruppo di 18 tra detenuti (11) ed ex detenuti (7) si è cercato di comprendere se e in che modo l'esperienza detentiva incoraggi l'interiorizzazione di un sé deviante e la rappresentazione di un futuro irrimediabilmente compromesso in chiave criminale. Le nostre conclusioni possono essere riassunte in due punti principali: (1) vi è uno stretto legame tra carcerazione e recidiva (2) non vi sono differenze significative tra carcerati ed ex carcerati per quanto riguarda il modo in cui descrivono e interpretano le loro esperienze e il legame di queste con la recidiva. / This research aims to examine the association between incarceration and recidivism. The starting point is an exam of the main penal theories in a sociological perspective, which resulted in discovering and highlighting the ambivalence of the main penal practice of our time, imprisonment. We then examine the criminogenic outcome of imprisonment, which is a clear denial of its resocialization purposes. From this analysis we claim the existence of a direct association between imprisonment in a correctional institution and recidivism. The empirical research aims to verify this association, from the point of view of a representative sample of inmates and former inmates. To do this, we carried out 18 interviews with 11 inmates and 7 former inmates. Our goal was understanding whether and how imprisonment promotes the creation of a deviant personality and the representation of a future still stuck in crime. Our conclusions may be summarized in two main points: (1) there is a strong association between incarceration and recidivism and (2) there aren't noticeable differences between inmates and former inmates in terms of how they describe and read their experiences and their association with recidivism.

Mc-clubs are marked as mysterious with dangerous motorcycles and deviant. Research has noticed both the illegal and legal clubs, but few have performed a comparison. The paper describes the similarities, differences, and the characteristics among legal and illegal mc-clubs. The comparison is done by looking at the structure, symbols, brotherhood, and criminal involvement. The depiction of the clubs is done by the help of Edwin M. Lemert’s terms primary and secondary deviance and Lewis Yablonsky’s definition of the social, delinquent, and violent gang. A content analysis based on 28 previous and current articles has been used to find the specific themes the clubs have in common and what characterizes and separates them. The clubs were shown to have similar structure, symbols and brotherhood, the difference lying in the intensity of the three components. The major difference is the criminal involvement. The illegal clubs reject the conventional society where the deviance is a form of identity, sharing it with like-minded in a violent setting. The legal clubs, however, conform and simultaneously deviate and have their own community with values and beliefs. Implications and future research is discussed.

Accounts of sexual abuse appear daily in the media. Rightfully, this issue demands attention. Juveniles may be victims; they may also be offenders who are subject to sex offender registration and notification (SORN) policies. Growing research finds that SORN policies fail to achieve intended public policy outcomes. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of SORN for juvenile offenders. This study contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of these policies on this population. Merton's concept of manifest and latent functions of purposive social action and an alternate non-criminogenic form of Lemert's secondary deviance proposition provided the theoretical framework. Research questions focused on whether a relationship exists between sex offender registration for a juvenile offense and severity of depression in current and former registrants after maturation into adulthood, and whether the relationship persists. A quantitative causal-comparative study was conducted using self-reported survey data from a non-probability sample of 59 registrants. Multiple regression analysis found SORN had a significant positive predictive relationship to severity of depression in adults currently registering for a juvenile offense as compared to former registrants, and the control group of those never registered, as measured by the Public Health Questionaire-9. A significant persistent depressive effect was not found in former registrants. Findings validate concerns that SORN may have iatrogenic effects for juvenile offenders; these findings also suggest that alternate, non-criminogenic forms of secondary deviancy appear to be associated with this policy. This understanding of the net effects of SORN informs policy decision makers and has social change implications for future sexual abuse prevention policies that may have greater likelihood of efficacy.