Introduction

How the research relates to some theoretical language, including references
Aims and objectives

A comparison of the speech of psychopathic killers with the speech of perpetrators of petty crime.

I chose to do this topic as crime is a topic that covers a wide variety of subjects. From psychology to language, it is researched heavily about its effect on us as individuals. Language and crime is a topic that is less researched yet still interesting and significant. As a psychology and English language student, the subject of criminals is a popular topic of conversation and so, for my English language coursework, I wanted to explore further into the topic of language change and criminals and include aspects of prison speech into the topic.

My topic relates to wider context because of the stereotypes and representations of certain criminals. For example, serial killers are portrayed as being intelligent and smart whereas petty thieves are considered to have a lower intelligence. Intelligence can be portrayed through our language and so I want to investigate whether these ranks and stereotypes are represented through the languages of criminals.