ABSTRACT
A criminal spin is an event or a set of events that represent a process of escalation in criminal behavior, accompanied by a cycle of criminal thinking or corresponding emotions. A criminal spin occurs when there is a sudden, rapid, or gradual acceleration of behavior that is considered criminal. The process arises as an almost inevitable chain of events, linked to one another in the generation of ever-intensifying criminal behavior. The overall process is one of a spinning flywheel; once set in motion, it preserves its own continuity. All components work coherently to increase the movement and create an integrated process that is stronger than the sum of the parts and factors that comprise it (Collins, 2001). Usually, if nothing interferes with the natural order of events, this process leads to a crisis that halts its movement, or reaches a peak and then subsides.
