Exploring the Relationship between Self-identity and Future Offending among a Sample of Serious and Violent Young Offenders

• In Event: Key Findings from the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study: Offending in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Cognitive transformation perspectives describe identity as an important aspect of an individual’s decision to involve themselves in criminal behavior. Pro-sociality is inconsistent with a criminal lifestyle, whereas perceptions of self as a ‘rule-breaker’ increases the likelihood of (a) recognizing when an opportunity to commit crime is present and (b) willingness to act on such opportunities. Due, in part, to a lack of validated measures of identity, it remains relatively unclear how different components of self-identity (e.g., pro-sociality, hyper-masculinity) impact continued involvement in offending. Drawing from a sample of incarcerated serious and violent young offenders (n = 214), the current study explores the relationship between self-identity profiles in adolescence (per Schneider’s Good Citizen’s Scale) and continued involvement in offending during emerging adulthood. The results are discussed within the context of the importance of identity for theories of desistance and with specific reference to identity as a key dynamic risk factor for criminal justice system practitioners to consider in developing intervention and treatment strategies for adjudicated youth.

Authors

• Kyla Towle, Simon Fraser University

• Evan McCuish, Simon Fraser University

• Raymond Corrado, Simon Fraser University