Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Struggle to Change: Life Course Alteration and Environmental Opportunities of Juvenile Offenders

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Among the greatest challenges the Juvenile Justice System faces is a chronically high rate of recidivism among juvenile offenders. Recent studies have estimated that half of incarcerated youth will go on to commit new crimes after their release from detention. In spite of the many programs that have been designed to support desistance from criminal activity, many of these young offenders will never successfully develop into non-offending adults. The present study investigates why teenage offenders continue to recidivate despite their efforts to 'go straight'. To address this question, it follows 30 young men in Chicago and Boston who have broken the law and have subsequently expressed an intention to change their behavior. In both cities, participants are interviewed over the course of a year. Questions are designed to elicit information on the motivations underlying personal behavioral choices and how participants perceive their surroundings. The goal is to gain insight into the interaction between individual behavior and the opportunities offered by the structured social environment, recognizing how the context within which behavioral reform is attempted variously facilitates or inhibits new actions. It is argued that a positive and secure concept of identity may protect young men from recidivating. Hence, the aim of this research is to observe the emergence of such positive identity concepts or to recognize the forces that have inhibited them when they fail to develop. This research demonstrates that young men are exposed to a variety of influences that interact in dynamic ways in the course of attempting to reform their behavior. It aims to aid in the development of juvenile justice programs that are more effective for taking into account the context within which young offenders struggle to change the courses of their lives.