This paper aims to introduce and teach readers step-by-step how to conduct a meta-ethnography within the field of criminology. In order to accomplish this, we purposefully selected a very narrow area of study, professional criminals as presented in well-known classic criminological monographs and then further restricted it to a rational choice perspective, a theoretical rubric easily addressed via the meta-ethnography. These limiting decisions were done so that readers would not get lost in the substance of the meta-ethnography. A search of qualitative research monographs and related online bibliographic databases identified a total of 32 research monographs, 6 of which met the inclusion criteria for the critical appraisal process. Following the methodological approach offered by Noblit and Hare’s (1988) traditional meta-ethnography analytical framework, 24 of the most prevalent rational choice concepts were identified and collapsed into a Line of Argument Synthesis of 11 metaphors highlighting the intrinsic and nuanced connections among taken-for-granted rational choice concepts (e.g., rationality, perceptions of risks/costs/benefits, etc.), criminal decision-making processes, and related lifestyle. The implications of meta-ethnography as a methodological tool for theoretical assessment in criminology and criminal justice are discussed.
vi Chapter One Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 4 Chapter Two Literature Review 8 The Von Neumann-Morgenstern Expected Utility Model 8 Economics 10 Contemporary Studies 11 Deterrence 13 Cognitive Psychology 18 Sociology of Choice 20 Environmental Criminology 22 A Synthesis of Disciplines 23 The Rational Choice Perspective 25 Expanding the Expected Utility Model 28 Risk Perceptions, Risk Management, Target Selection, and the Criminal Decision-Making Process 31 Fear, Coping, and the Criminal Career 35 Criticisms of the Rational Choice Perspective 39 Overly Simplistic Cost-Benefit Model 39 Disregard of Psychological or Emotional Factors 40 Unrealistic Assertion or Rationality 40 Suggestions for Strengthening or Replacing the RCP 41 Responses to Criticisms 42 Rational Choice and Professional Criminals 46 White Collar, Corporate, and Organized Crime 46 Empirical 47 A Rational Choice Approach to Professional Criminals 50 Purpose of the Study 52
vi Chapter One Introduction 1 Law as Social Control 3 Lethal Vengeance in the South 6 A Peculiar Chivalry 8 Racial Discrimination in the Contemporary Capital Punishment Process 10 The Current Study 11 Chapter Two Literature Review 20 A Socio-legal History of Black Oppression in the South 23 The Law of Slavery 23 Reconstruction & Lethal Vengeance 32 Rape & Racial Discrimination in Death Penalty Sentencing in the 20th Century 35 The Capital Punishment Process 40 Evolution of the Contemporary Capital Punishment Process 40 An Overview of the Empirical Evidence of Racial Discrimination in the Capital Punishment Process 45 Empirical Research on Racial Discrimination and the Death Penalty using the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project Dataset 47 An Overview of Qualitative Studies of Capital Juries 49 Aggravating Factors in the North Carolina Capital Punishment Process 53 Geographical Variations in the use of the Death Penalty 56 An Enduring Cultural Legacy 60 Chapter Three Methods 66 Analytic Induction 66 Sample 68 Boundary Conditions for Case Requirements 69 Coding and Impact of the ECL Dimensions 74 Analytic Plan 86
