The qualitative literature criticizing REBs suggests that researchers should develop an approach to research ethics that does justice to their daily practice of fieldwork. In this article, I contribute to this exploration by presenting three cases of negotiating research ethics while researching transgressive social worlds. These cases are related to political tension while researching cannabis shops, privacy issues while using visual methods to research an anarchist community, and contentions with a research participant while researching academic fraud. In the description of these cases, I highlight the essential role of performing integrity, which is an interactive and dynamic social process in which researchers present themselves as reliable and credible. In the cases that I present here, there were instances of misalignment, which triggered an internal conversation on the part of the researcher, who subsequently reflected on possible aligning actions. This article discusses how performing integrity and (re-)aligning activities differ by audience and by research phase.

This article describes the social construction of Lofland's A World of Strangers (1973), which has become a seminal publication on social interactions in urban public places. I focus on her methods, research locations, references, and positionality. I will refer to my meetings with her and analyze two unpublished documents: the methodological appendix of her book and her 1966 paper "In the Presence of Strangers." The article shows that her book was profoundly shaped by middle-class rules of public behavior in Ann Arbor in 1966, her symbolic interactionist understanding of the fragile self, and her positionality shaped by class, gender, age and race.

In this article, we develop a typology of disablist hate crime that does justice to the lived experience of victims and highlights the differences between disablist hate crime and other forms of hate crime in England. This research consists of analyses of cases and semi-structured interviews with professionals. Based on interaction type, its duration, meaning, frequency, severity, and harm, we developed three categories: (1) intimidation, (2) exploitation and (3) brutalization. We argue that because of the specific symbolic nature of targeting disabled people, these acts should be considered as potential hate crimes.

In this article I focus on stigma, and more specifically on territorial stigma in a Dutch suburb built in the 1970s. This publication is based on ethnographic fieldwork that lasted two and half years and which took place at the end of the 1980s. The data is reanalyzed in the light of recent developments in studies on stigma and territorial stigma, specifically how this is countered. I will use the conceptual pair-doing stigma and undoing stigma-to unpack stigma as a complex and dynamic process in which a diverse range of actors, such as inhabitants, civil servants and youth, are involved. The aim of this article is twofold: to describe and analyze the social construction of territorial stigma (doing stigma) of the neighborhood over a period of ten years and whether and how this stigma is countered (undoing stigma). This article highlights the agency of those targeted by stigma by paying attention to local narratives and using a multi-perspective ethnographic lens. The narratives show that stigma did not gain a master status because (1) the stigma producers were marginal in the social world of the targeted inhabitants and (2) it did not align with structural stigma (as in e.g., housing, health care, income, and education).

In this article, I analyze my interviews with Mark (pseudonym), a social scientist who committed major academic fraud in over 50 top-tier journal articles in the first decade of this century. I explain how stigma played a central role in how Mark and I shaped our interaction. I focus on how Mark, a former Professor and Dean with a distinguished career, constructed normalizing narratives using neutralization techniques. Mark was named a selfish, narcissistic person and labeled as an academic folk devil, which hurt him deeply. He felt he was vilified, ostracized, and demonized. I also focus on my reaction to Mark's representation of being stigmatized, specifically on how I navigated between empathizing and challenging to elicit answers with "narrative credibility." This article contributes to the field of neutralization techniques in two ways. First, by focusing on the specific interview situation, I show how neutralization techniques are constructed in the unfolding interactional dynamics between the researcher and the research participant. Second, this research describes how neutralization techniques are used to normalize "the shamed self."

This study contributes to the criminological transgression literature with an in-depth ethnographic analysis of Reed’s narrative of transgression, stigma, self and resistance. This analysis includes two intertwined perspectives on rule breaking, 1) the transgression concept within cultural criminology and 2) deviance studies with its focus on labeling and stigma. This combination creates an academic focus that includes the empowering and disempowering qualities of rule breaking. Lou Reed’s rich narrative extending over a period of six decades shows that the meaning making process of his transgressions was shaped by Reed’s interactions within several transgressive social worlds, the commodified mediatized representations of his work, and societal transformations changing the meaning of drugs and sexualities. In addition, this article shows that Reed’s transgressions were intimately related to stigma and shame, an angle which is hardly explored within cultural criminology and deserves more attention in order to further our understanding of the social meanings of transgression.

For many years, the Dutch cannabis policy was considered unique in the world and used as an example of how the issue of cannabis could be approached differently. The Netherlands liked to see itself as a role model, but, ironically, at a time when the Netherlands is overcome by doubts about the sustainability of the coffeeshop model, the country of Uruguay and several states in the USA, such as Colorado and Washington, have legalised the recreational use of cannabis. What are the problems with the Dutch policy? What lessons can be learned from the Dutch experience with tolerating the use of cannabis? In this contribution, the developments with regard to the Dutch cannabis policy will be described and critically assessed in relation to the initial aims and assumptions of this policy. Second, the authors focus on the developments regarding cannabis cultivation, coffeeshops and organized crime over the past 40 years.

This chapter on crime, transgression, and justice focuses on interactional meaning-making processes that shape the moral narratives of a range of actors such as perpetrators, police, and judges. These narratives include processes such as labeling, stigmatization, and criminalization. These processes are about (1) degrading, dominating, and excluding, and (2) their narrative counterparts, which focus on resisting the othering claims of moral narratives. This chapter focuses on two fundamental contributions of symbolic interaction to this field: the labeling perspective, and the ethnographic approach studying the social construction of moral meanings in everyday interactions. I will also describe two themes: (1) violence, the perspective of the “badass,” and (2) the criminal-justice system as a labeling machine. This chapter shows that because of its theoretical and methodological tools, symbolic-interactionist studies are well equipped to listen to voices of marginalized groups and show their agency in their fight for justice.

Symbolic InteractionVolume 43, Issue 1 p. 3-20 INTRODUCTION Stigma, the Moral Career of a Concept: Some Notes on Emotions, Agency, Teflon Stigma, and Marginalizing Stigma Thaddeus Müller, Corresponding Author Thaddeus Müller t.muller@lancaster.ac.uk Lancaster UniversityDirect all correspondence to Thaddeus Müller, Law School, Criminology, Bowland North, C20 Lancaster University, Lancashire, LA1 4YN UK; e-mail: t.muller@lancaster.ac.uk.Search for more papers by this author Thaddeus Müller, Corresponding Author Thaddeus Müller t.muller@lancaster.ac.uk Lancaster UniversityDirect all correspondence to Thaddeus Müller, Law School, Criminology, Bowland North, C20 Lancaster University, Lancashire, LA1 4YN UK; e-mail: t.muller@lancaster.ac.uk.Search for more papers by this author First published: 13 January 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.473Citations: 9Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume43, Issue1Special Issue: Power, Stigma, Transgression, and Exclusion in Everyday LifeFebruary 2020Pages 3-20 RelatedInformation

The strength of symbolic interactionist studies is the study of ‘small’ social worlds. Others see this strength as a weakness because, they argue, there is too much of a concern with describing and understanding the social life of ‘small’ groups, without paying sufficient attention to the wider context of power relations shaping society and larger societal transformations. Though, this is a stereotypical representation of symbolic interactionism, there is a grain of truth in this claim, as symbolic interactionist studies do tend to focus on the micro level of society. This chapter focuses on cultural criminology as a possible inspiration for symbolic interactionism, as it has been able to focus on ‘small’ social worlds while relating these to a wider societal context. In doing this it concentrates on (a) power, specifically the working of institutions of social control; and (b) culture, that is how people given meanings to their social world, and how this is shaped by digital communication. In its integrated critical and cultural approach, cultural criminology has been developing a set of core concepts, such as ‘transgression’, ‘marginalisation’, ‘resistance’ and ‘media’ in late modernity, which can be an impetus for symbolic interactionism.

Although litter, such as cigarette butts, chewing gum, and packages of food and drink, might seem an insignifi cant topic for social scientists, it does deserve our academic attention because it is related to rule-breaking, public (dis-)order and potentially crime. According to one of the most dominant yet increasingly critiqued theories in criminology, the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 1982; Kelling and Coles 1996), litter is a form of disorder which leads to more disorder and eventually crime. Th is paper explores littering as a mundane example of low-level disorder in order to gain a better understanding of the antecedents that trigger the so-called ‘broken windows’ eff ect. Th is study off ers an alternative view on litter as a sign of disorder by presenting qualitative research from the perspectives of youth on littering, and the various meanings they give to this rule-breaking behavior. Th is article shows that by focusing on an emic-perspective – an insider’s view – it becomes clear that rule-breaking – disorderly behaviour – is an expressive act and related to the way youngsters want to be seen by others, their public identity. Litter also has societal impact and relevance. Litter causes environmental problems because it deteriorates slowly and there are large costs related to the cleaning of litter. For example, in the Netherlands 180 million Euros were spent on litter in 2008 (Senternovem 2009:18). Litter is seen by many as something to complain about: 20 % of the Dutch population perceives litter as a major problem in their neighbourhoods (CBS 2009:37). In local Dutch communities, campaigns have started to raise awareness about litter and local governments have become stricter on throwing litter in the streets, which can result into fi nes as high as 100 Euros (Senternovem 2008; Algemeen Dagblad 2010). Th e topic of litter is also a structural component of questionnaires which are used to monitor community safety in

The focus in this article is the ‘criminalisation’ of youth hanging around with the emergence of bans on hanging around. A critical social constructivist approach is used in this study, which draws predominantly on qualitative primary data collected between the late 1980s and 2010s. The article compares indigenous with immigrant youth, which coincides with, respectively, youth in rural communities and youth in urban communities. This study shows that there is discrimination against immigrant youth, which is shaped by several intertwining social phenomena, such as the ‘geography of policing’ – more police in urban areas – familiarity, sharing biographical information (in smaller communities), and the character of the interaction, normalising versus stigmatising. In further research on this topic we have to study (the reaction to) the transgressions of immigrant youth, and compare it with (the reaction to) the transgressions of indigenous youth, which is a blind spot in Dutch criminology.

The focus in this article is the ‘criminalisation’ of youth hanging around with the emergence of bans on hanging around. A critical social constructivist approach is used in this study, which draws predominantly on qualitative primary data collected between the late 1980s and 2010s. The article compares indigenous with immigrant youth, which coincides with, respectively, youth in rural communities and youth in urban communities. This study shows that there is discrimination of immigrant youth, which is shaped by several intertwining social phenomena, such as the ‘geography of policing’ – more police in urban areas – familiarity, sharing biographical information (in smaller communities), and the character of the interaction, normalising versus stigmatising. In further research on this topic we have to study (the reaction to) the transgressions of immigrant youth, and compare it with (the reaction to) the transgressions of indigenous youth, which is a blind spot in Dutch criminology.

My focus in this paper is on the meaning that rock music has for fans of Lou Reed. I use the comments following his death as my primary data. These data were posted on the New York Times website in the comments section following the report “Outsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision Helped Shape Rock ‘n’ Roll.” From these data I develop what I call “the marginal self” in reference to how rock music helps self-identified marginalized persons to deal with their social exclusion and alienation. Drawing on Kotarba’s (2012) analytic categories of the self, I will show how these data give insight into a wide range of existential meanings related to the music of Lou Reed. For many who wrote these comments their reading of Lou Reed has been an essential transformative part of their life in similar ways to baby boomers as outlined in Kotarba’s (2012) Baby Boomers Rock ‘n’ Roll Fans: The Music Never Ends. I first show how Kotarba’s (2012) core concepts of the musical self provide insight into how fans of Lou Reed develop a sense of self through Reed’s music. I then turn to a discussion of the marginalized self as a development of Kotarba’s (2012) categories of “authenticity work” and “becoming of the self.” Suggestions for future research are noted.

Feeling unsafe in a multicultural neighbourhood has been related—especially in the case of indigenous inhabitants—to the presence of groups of young immigrant men in public space. However, indigenous inhabitants differ in their response to the presence of immigrant men. Our goal is to examine (in a qualitative and quantitative way) whether interethnic social involvement has added value when it comes to explaining the experience of fear of crime, as compared to general social involvement. We conclude that our thesis regarding the relevance of interethnic social involvement for explaining the experience of safety is sustained by our material. Therefore, we advise that interethnic social involvement should be integrated in future studies on the fear of crime.

In this volume we will present nine articles from the third conference of the European SSSI which was held on July 4–6 in Rotterdam in 2012. They come from a diverse range of countries such as Poland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Germany. This collection shows a wide variety of qualitative methods and themes, such as sex-work in Poland, urban public places in the Netherlands, dancing during lunch break in Sweden, self-change in Papua New Guinea, immigration in Malta and the body online. When we look at the studies in this volume, it becomes clear that European scholars have been inspired by the SI tradition in various ways, which will be discussed briefly in this introduction.

Starting in the 1970s, the Netherlands developed a regulatory regime for narcotic drugs by distinguishing between hashish and marihuana (“soft drugs”) and other drugs (“hard drugs”). The authorities decided to cease prosecuting the possession of consumer quantities of the former type and to allow the sale of soft drugs at “coffee shops”. However, they did little to control the activities of coffee shop operators, whereas the supply of soft drugs to the shops remained illegal. In this paper, we review the ongoing debate on the soft drug policy in the Netherlands and analyze it from the perspective of the regulation of illegal markets.