The impact of employment upon young offenders’ identities
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Author | Rebecca Jayne Oswald |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12471 |
Received: 20 July 2 021 Accepted: 30 September 2021
DOI: 10.1111/ho jo.12471
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The impact of employment upon young
offenders’ identities
Rebecca Jayne Oswald
Lecturer in Criminology,Department of
Social Sciences, Northumbria University
Correspondence
Rebecca Jayne Oswald, Lecturer in
Criminology, Department of Social
Sciences, Northumbria University.
Email:
rebecca.j.oswald@northumbria.ac.uk
Abstract
While numbers of first-time entrants have decreased
dramatically in the last decade, young people remaining
in the youth justice system in England and Wales today
are the most persistent, troubled offenders. Research
suggests that the formation of a non-offending or ‘proso-
cial’ identity is crucial for desistance among persistent
offenders. This article examines how engaging in an
employment programme at a social enterprise influ-
enced the identity of offenders aged 16–18 years. Young
people’s self-narratives reveal that although none pos-
sessed a strong criminal identity, they developed a more
coherent prosocial identity during their employment.
This can be attributed to how the employment pro-
gramme reduced the social exclusion experienced by
employees, demonstrating the value of such opportuni-
ties for youths.
KEYWORDS
employment, identity, UK, youth offender
Recent statistics demonstrate that 37.3% of juvenile offenders in England and Wales reoffend
within one year of being cautioned, convicted or released from custody (Ministry of Justice,2020).
This is considerably higher than the rates of recidivism for adult offenders (27.5%). Moreover, the
review of the youth justice system in England and Wales conducted by the Ministry of Justice in
2016 found that while levels of youth offending have decreased overall, young people remaining
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits use, distribution and reproduc-
tion in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2022 The Authors. The HowardJournal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Howard J. Crim. Justice. 2022;61:221–239. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hojo 221
222 THE HOWARDJOURNAL OF CRIME AND JUSTICE
in the youth justice system today are the most persistent and troubled offenders (Taylor, 2016).
It is very important therefore to investigate which factors can support youth desistance, in order
to improve the lives of young people and reduce the persistence of offending into adult criminal
careers.
Both scholars and offenders explain that desistance constitutes a fluid process of abstaining
from crime over time, often with numerous setbacks, rather than an instantaneous transforma-
tion to the status of ‘non-offender’ (Halsey, Armstrong & Wright, 2017; Maruna & Farrall, 2004;
Paternoster & Bushway, 2009). A concept that is central among criminologists’ theorising sur-
rounding desistance is that of ‘identity reconstruction’. Many report that the process of desistance
involves the offender reconfiguring their self-view and havinga new conceptualisation of the per-
son they wish to be (Copp et al., 2020; Farrall& Calverley, 2006; Giordano, Cernkovich & Rudolph,
2002; Maruna, 2001; Vaughan,2007). However, these studies have primarily been conducted with
adults and there has been less exploration of the form identity change takes among young offend-
ers. Furthermore, research by desistance theorists into the role of identity often focuses upon the
extent to which the development of a non-offending identity can predict desistance (Bachman
et al., 2016; Maruna, 2001; Paternoster et al., 2016; Rocque, Posick & Paternoster, 2014;Shapland
& Bottoms, 2011). Less attention has been paid towhat can trigg er orpromote a change in identity.
While there is limited evidence that engaging in employment can prompt identity reconfiguration
among offenders (Fontin-Dufour & Brassard, 2014; Weaver & McNeill, 2015), again this research
has not been conducted with youths.
Therefore, to address this lacuna, this article investigates the influence of engaging in employ-
ment at a social enterprise upon the identities of offenders aged 16–18 years. Through detailed
analysis of young people’s self-narratives at various stages throughout their participation in this
programme, this article seeks to ascertain whether young people’s identities altered throughout
this period and – if a change was observed – the role that engaging in employment had in this.
Consequently, this study aims to enhance criminological understanding of the process of identity
development among youths, as well as the mechanisms by which employment might promote the
formation of a more ‘prosocial’ identity.
1IDENTITY RECONSTRUCTION
Identity is a primary factor in attitudes and behaviour; our self-view provides a direction for, and
will be consistent with, our actions (Burke & Reitzes, 1991; Matsueda, 1992; Reynolds & Ceranic,
2007). Therefore, understanding an offender’sidentity should aid an understanding of their crim-
inal behaviours. Based upon this, Maruna’s(2001) Liverpool Desistance Study investigated the life
narratives of desisters and persisters. As Dingfelder (2011) states: ‘we create ourselves out of the
stories we tell about our lives’ (p.42). Thus, the narrative can be understood as more than a retro-
spective record of life events; it aids the formation of an individual’s identity. Maruna discovered
that persisters and desisters formed different types of self-stories. Desisters form ‘redemption nar-
ratives’.They describe themselves as always being a good person; however, they were a victim of
bleak chances in life that made them get involved in crime, but they have now taken control and
turned their lives around. They desired ‘generative’ goals, now wishing to give something back
to society. Thus, by reconfiguring their past, desisters can conceptualise a ‘prosocial’ identity for
themselves (Maruna, 2001, p.7). This supports desistance because continued involvementin crim-
inal activity would be incongruent with their new identity. Conversely, persisters were found to
employ ‘condemnation scripts’ where they saw themselves as victims of forces outside their con-
trol; they had no real hope for change. With such an understanding of their lives, it is unsurprising
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