Comparative Analysis of the Theories and Methods Used in Inked into Crime? and Nonmainstream Body Modification

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The following paper is a comparative analysis of the theories and methods used by the authors of “Inked into Crime? An Examination of the Casual Relationships between Tattoos and Life-Course-Offending among males from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development” (Jennings, Hahn, Farrington 2014) and “Nonmainstream Body Modification: Genital Piercing, Branding, Burning, and Cutting” (Myers 1992). Jennings, Hahn, and Farrington’s article investigates the correlation between tattoos and deviant behavior. In addition, the researches ultimately want to discover if the relationship between tattoos and crime may in fact be casual, or are just another symptom of developmental risk factors and personality traits (Jennings, Hahn, Farrington 79). Myers article is about body modification such as tattoos, piercings, branding, burning, and cutting. Myers discovers and examines the rationales and motivations behind individual’s decisions for receiving body modification (173). There are many similarities and differences between the research methods and theories used in the following two studies. Jennings, Hahn, and Farrington (2014) collected and relied on the data from a prospective longitudinal study of 411 males that all lived in an inner-city area in South London. This former longitudinal study derived from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development in 1961 where the participants were aged 8-9 at the time. Most of the boys were white and of British origin who came from a working class family. An example of this is when the authors state that “in 94% of the cases, the head of the household had a working-class occupation, and that 87% of the boys were white and of British origin” (2014:79). Myer’s (1992) research methods on the other hand,... ... middle of paper ... ...ugh Jennings, Hahn, and Farrington focus more on how tattoos perceive the criminal, I believe that Myers study is a greater indicator of the theory. Meyer’s study really uncovers the motivations, meanings, and rationale on why people receive body modification treatments. All in all, both studies definitely shared some key similarities and differences and did an excellent job conducting research on the topic. Works Cited Jennings, Wesley, Hahn Bryanna, Farrington, David. 2014. “Inked into Crime? An Examination of the Casual Relationship between Tattoos and Life-Course Offending among Males from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development.” Journal of Criminal Justice. 42(1): 77-84. Myers, James. 1992. “Nonmainstream Body Modification: Genital Piercing, Branding, Burning, and Cutting.” Boundaries: Readings in Deviance, Crime and Criminal Justice. 1(1): 173-191.

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