Are Former Male Inmates Excluded from Social Life?

Abstract

Based on Becker's conceptualization of deviance, the phenomena of labeling and stigmatization of people who commit antisocial acts will result in their social marginalization and exclusion, which may result in relapse into criminal behavior. By the means of qualitative research, this paper looks at different forms of social exclusion, as possible catalysts of male recidivism in Romania. Turning away from the perspective that the offender alone is responsible for the acts he committed and for his own rehabilitation, the authors demonstrate that social exclusion was experienced by recidivists in different ways, favouring the perpetration of antisocial acts. The identified spheres of social exclusion that mainly need to be targeted by social policies and social assistance are: employment, housing, family relationships and social networks.