NCJ Number: 121989
Title: Fraudulent Identification and Biography (From New Directions in the Study of Justice, Law, and Social Control, P 143-165, 1990, Melvin J Lerner, ed. -- See NCJ-121983)
Author(s): G T Marx
Date Published: 1990
Page Count: 23
Sponsoring Agency: Plenum Press
Sale Source: Plenum Press
Type: Issue Overview
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Annotation: The use of fraudulent identity and biography is increasing in the United States and is relevant to the traditional concerns of criminology and victimology.
Abstract: Fraudulent identity and biography are related to concepts of accountability and authenticity. It must be recognized, however, that the ironic consequences of efforts to promote order and reduce conflict often result in more disorder. As more aspects of individual lives are subject to accountability and as more techniques are devised to insure a predictable context, opportunities for fraud will prevail. The growth of fraudulent identification and biography is related to expansions and contractions in opportunity structures associated with the rise of industrial society and the welfare State. Issues of authenticity and honesty are theoretically important in understanding contemporary society. They touch on a number of concerns involving deviance, social control, social psychology, communications, and technology. Society's emphasis on social and geographic mobility accustoms individuals to the idea of being someone else and generates pressure to be successful and upwardly mobile. Many available resources intentionally or unintentionally aid false presentations; for example, stores sell uniforms and costumes and organizations sell fake or questionable diplomas. Adult education and outreach programs have significantly expanded the chance to obtain certification, apart from being on campus and attending classes. Dimensions relevant to studies of fraudulent identity are integrated to form heuristic typologies, considering conditions under which the use of fraudulent identification is most likely and conditions which constrain such use. 13 references, 4 tables.
Main Term(s): False identification
Index Term(s): False impersonation; Social conditions
Note: Critical Issues in Social Justice Series
To cite this abstract, use the following link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=121989
. A title search of 
