Been a Heavy Life: Stories of Violent Men

7. Elastic Narratives: Creative Integration

7 ELASTIC NARRATIVES: CREATIVE INTEGRATION Every time I start somethin’, I don’t complete it. But if I can start some trouble, I can start that and finish that. But what comes with it is always jail time. —James Elastic narratives emphasized moral stability but also included reform talk. The reform talk in elastic narratives was sparse or else shallow, so that the narrative was evidently not “about” reform. In characterizing the reform talk in elastic narratives as shallow, I mean two particular things. First, accounts of one’s crimes were contradictory, vague, or both. Quite often, one’s life, including but not limited to one’s reform, was broadly described (for example, one previously enjoyed a “fast” lifestyle that was condemned) but specific crimes were neutralized. Second, desistance, like offending, was attributed to vaguely stated factors. In addition, desistance was conceptualized as an already completed process, so that strategies for desistance in the future were insubstantial. Based on those criteria, fifteen of the twenty-seven men I interviewed told elastic narratives. Their life stories were marked by a poorly integrated plot and “weak evaluation” (Taylor 1985) of their past harmful actions, with little commitment to desistance as a consequence. The fact that a majority of the research participants told elastic narratives is considered at the end of this chapter, after the narratives themselves are deconstructed. 98 . B E E N A H E AV Y L I F E Poorly Integrated Plot In many elastic narratives, accounts of one’s crimes tended to be vague or inconsistent. As a result, the plot of reform was not well integrated throughout the narrative—across specific event stories—as it was in reform narratives. Reform in the Abstract Some narrators tended to state that they had changed overall, but then neutralized specific crimes. John’s critique of his deviance, including an attempted escape from jail culminating in an assault on a deputy sheriff, was stated abstractly. He said: “John before was extremely selfish, self-righteous, well to a degree he’s self-righteous somewhat now, but not like he used to be. Um, John before would just as soon whoop your ass as look at ya.” Given the question that prompted this response, “How would you describe yourself?” it is not particularly surprising that the statement is abstract. Perhaps it is in the nature of “description” to summarize: a more concrete question probably would have generated a more concrete response. What is noteworthy is that John’s criticism of his earlier self was restricted to this abstract summation. When it came to stories about specific episodes in his life, John was far less disapproving. In fact, he seemed delighted by his victories in a variety of conflicts with other people. In his critique, John condemned his tendency to “act or react” without thinking. He nonetheless enjoyed sharing the story of the assault he might have perpetrated against a reckless school bus driver: John: A friend of mine was having problems with her grandson’s bus driver. And the woman—with kids on the bus tried to run her off the road. Lo: It was a woman with kids on—who? John: The woman—the driver— Lo: Oh the driver. John: —of the bus, tried to run— Lo: Oh with kids on the— John: —my friend off the road. Lo: Oh. John: And there were kids on the bus. Lo: Hmm. John: And she got all pissed off about it. Lo: Hmm. E L A S T I C N A R R AT I V E S . 99 John: Zipped around the corner an’—parked her car on the middle of the street an’ the bus came around the corner, stopped, and she went up to the bus and basically told the driver that—she needed to step out of the bus so she could get her ass whooped for endangering the lives of the children like that, and for endangering her life. . . . Lo: Was your friend arrested? John: Uh, she was—she was formally charged—and— Lo: With what? John: —uh, it’s still in the court. Aggravated nothin.’ Lo: Mm-hmm. John: But, um, I’m gonna have to—be going to court with her sometime because—I was with her when it happened. So. I mean [laughing], if it wasn’t her it was gonna be me [laughing]! Lo: What do you mean? John: I dunno. If...