Journal article
“I Will be a King There”: Lies, Omissions, and the Maintenance of a Violent Criminal Identity
International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
02/18/2026
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X261424930
PMID: 41709704
Abstract
Understanding prolonged violent criminality necessitates consideration of a person’s cultivated life story, as well as motivations that may not be consciously accessible or explicitly articulated. Crucially, both are shaped within specific sociocultural contexts that impose constraints and provide resources for identity construction. We analyze the life story of “Abdullah,” a former child soldier of the Bosnian war (1992–1995) and a chronic violent persister. We examine the manifest text of Abdullah’s self-narrative—including the distortions, lies, and hyperbolic statements he uses to construct his identity and justify his crimes—and what we interpret as latent meaning in his omissions and points of contradiction. We show that Abdullah draws from culturally available narratives involving masculinity and heroism, and argue that such narratives are also defenses against his anxiety. This work contributes to scholarship on how broader sociocultural narratives and underlying emotional dynamics sustain chronic violent criminality across the life course.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- “I Will be a King There”: Lies, Omissions, and the Maintenance of a Violent Criminal Identity
- Creators
- Stephanie M. DiPietro - University of IowaHeidi Grundetjern - Villanova University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
- DOI
- 10.1177/0306624X261424930
- PMID
- 41709704
- NLM abbreviation
- Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol
- ISSN
- 0306-624X
- eISSN
- 1552-6933
- Publisher
- Sage
- Grant note
- Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarship Grant: 48131043 University of Missouri -Saint Louis, College of Arts and Sciences
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarship (Grant # 48131043) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, College of Arts and Sciences (no grant number provided).
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 02/18/2026
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology
- Record Identifier
- 9985139481302771
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