This research looks at the social construction of integrity by focusing on the ‘hero’ and its representation in popular culture in relationship to the legal contexts of crime and crime control relating to corruption. In doing so it explores the porous boundaries between ‘criminal’ and ‘non-criminal’, ‘victim’ and ‘persecutor’, ‘tradition’ and ‘innovation’. The main argument is that the above antonyms are dynamic entities that not only carry labels and significance that are characteristic to a particular structure, but also act as agents of change shaping the very context they raised from. Drawing on key case studies related to corruption, the research looks at the ways in which the classical social drama roles of victim, persecutor and rescuer are shifted between exponents of the deviant cultures (as principal actors), legal and political authorities (as official interpreters and authors of criminal labels) and the larger public. The cases studies bring together mythological figures from East and West (e.g. Puss in Boots, The Monkey King) and contemporary figures (e.g. Snowden, Laura Kovesi, anti-corruption prosecutor) looking at the role of deviance in the creation of these heroic figures, while drawing policy implications for the creation of cultures of integrity.
