Kriminalinė subkultūra už įkalinimo įstaigos ribų: benamiai, buvę nuteistieji
Criminal Subculture Outside the Prison Walls: Homeless Ex-Convicts

Summary/Abstract: The homeless is a social exclusion groups in Lithuania experiencing the highest level of social exclusion. The problem of social exclusion poses many questions to the researchers of society. The specific lifestyle of the members of this group often hinders the process of studying this group more thoroughly. Researchers claim that this group is very heterogeneous. One of its subgroups is homeless ex-convicts. This article is an attempt to recognise the experience of the members of this group, their lifestyle as well as, the value of self and the others. The insights of this article are based on the homeless research performed in Kaunas in the years 2003-2008. The methods used in the research include the in-depth interviews and participant observations. The results of the research revealed that the social group of homeless ex-convicts has absorbed many elements of the criminal subculture. We can say that the criminal subculture is the origin of the group of homeless ex-convicts. These elements include such obvious features as the language, behaviour and such internal interpersonal features as inter-relations, specific relations with the environment, identity, social capital and others. The negative opinion of society and of the other homeless aggravates the social integration of homeless ex-convicts and strengthens the external and internal social exclusion and stigmatization of this group

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