Lois Presser, associate professor of sociology, studies the influence that our life stories have on our actions and, specifically, those actions that cause harm. In her book Been a Heavy Life: Stories of Violent Men (University of Illinois Press, 2008), which was released in September, she investigates the life stories of men who have perpetrated violence. The book is based on in-depth interviews with men who shared their accounts of how they became the people we most fear–those who rape, murder, assault, and rob, often repeatedly. Been a Heavy Life sheds light on the sources of violence and the ways that it is rationalized by those who engage in it.
Recent Publications
Presser, Lois. Been a Heavy Life: Stories of Violent Men. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press (2008).
Presser, Lois. “The Narratives of Offenders.” Theoretical Criminology (2008, in press).
Judkins, Brooke, and Lois Presser. “Division of Eco-Friendly Household Labor and the Marital Relationship: An Exploratory Study.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (2008, in press).
Presser, Lois, Emily Gaarder, and Denise Hesselton. “Imagining Restorative Justice beyond Recidivism.” Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 46(1/2): 163-176 (2007).
Presser, Lois. “’I’ll Come Back and Stalk You’: Contradictions of Advocacy and Research for Women Criminologists.” Women & Criminal Justice 17(4): 19-36 (2006).
Presser, Lois and Cynthia A. Hamilton. “The Micro-Politics of Victim Offender Mediation.” Sociological Inquiry 76(3): 316-342 (2006).