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"A Token of Gratitude"? A Morally Ambiguous Case of Bribery

Jacobsson, Katarina LU (2006) In Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention 7(1). p.3-22
Abstract
The phenomenon of bribery is characterized by its elastic features, both morally and legally. This study sets out to investigate a court case of bribery: how the people involved construct and argue for their particular version. A single case of bribery is chosen in order to clarify the range and potential of various descriptions of the very same event. The material consists of interviews with the parties involved: a male lawyer who was charged with bribery, a female court clerk for whom the bribe/gift was intended, and the prosecutor who handled this specific case. When telling their stories—representing a non‐criminal and an illegitimate version of the event—they also construct two perspectives as incompatible: "the right [legal] way" and... (More)
The phenomenon of bribery is characterized by its elastic features, both morally and legally. This study sets out to investigate a court case of bribery: how the people involved construct and argue for their particular version. A single case of bribery is chosen in order to clarify the range and potential of various descriptions of the very same event. The material consists of interviews with the parties involved: a male lawyer who was charged with bribery, a female court clerk for whom the bribe/gift was intended, and the prosecutor who handled this specific case. When telling their stories—representing a non‐criminal and an illegitimate version of the event—they also construct two perspectives as incompatible: "the right [legal] way" and "the human way". With regard to these perspectives it is not only the convicted lawyer who accounts for his actions, but also the clerk and the prosecutor. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bribery, Accounts, Corruption, Criminology, Rhetoric, Prosecutor, Social constructionism
in
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention
volume
7
issue
1
pages
3 - 22
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:33646508396
ISSN
1404-3858
DOI
10.1080/14043850600643462
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c6c76ede-4483-4e80-8bc3-b6b8879b3b24 (old id 162072)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:40:09
date last changed
2022-01-26 08:28:05
@article{c6c76ede-4483-4e80-8bc3-b6b8879b3b24,
  abstract     = {{The phenomenon of bribery is characterized by its elastic features, both morally and legally. This study sets out to investigate a court case of bribery: how the people involved construct and argue for their particular version. A single case of bribery is chosen in order to clarify the range and potential of various descriptions of the very same event. The material consists of interviews with the parties involved: a male lawyer who was charged with bribery, a female court clerk for whom the bribe/gift was intended, and the prosecutor who handled this specific case. When telling their stories—representing a non‐criminal and an illegitimate version of the event—they also construct two perspectives as incompatible: "the right [legal] way" and "the human way". With regard to these perspectives it is not only the convicted lawyer who accounts for his actions, but also the clerk and the prosecutor.}},
  author       = {{Jacobsson, Katarina}},
  issn         = {{1404-3858}},
  keywords     = {{Bribery; Accounts; Corruption; Criminology; Rhetoric; Prosecutor; Social constructionism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{3--22}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention}},
  title        = {{"A Token of Gratitude"? A Morally Ambiguous Case of Bribery}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14043850600643462}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/14043850600643462}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}