"Inmate” versus “Offender”: exploring post-conviction narratives of rapists from Delhi prison [abstract only]

It is not unusual for rapists to utilize a range of discourse strategies to justify their sexual offending. The work presented in this paper explores the post-conviction narratives of rapists by comparing them with their non-sex offending counterpart, convicted murderers, from Delhi prison. The analysis highlights two distinct ‘references to self’ in the offence narratives of the convicted rapists (N=10) and murderers (N=10), emphasizing that strategic use of language by rapists is a key factor in their identity management. The findings have been discussed in light of their significance within the unique socio-cultural setup of India along with policy implications and recommendations for future research.