Action sytems models of criminal differentiation

In this chapter, Kate Fritzon describes one of the theoretical frameworks used in Investigative Psychology to interpret the patterns of offence actions revealed in empirical study. Note that the Action Systems model, like the Narrative framework, was developed for ‘well-functioning’ systems and had not been considered in relation to criminal behaviour before the original Canter and Fritzon (1998) study showed how it could be adjusted for and applied to arson. This framework has proved particularly useful for understanding certain components of offending, although it lacks ‘inferential fluency’ (Youngs, 2008) until integrated with the both the Narrative and Victim Role perspectives within the overall Narrative Action System (NAS) model of offending style (Canter and Youngs, 2009).