The voice of young people who offend

This study investigated young people's experiences of offending and its contexts
through the accounts of young people who have offended. The study questioned
what young people say about their experiences of offending, and also how they say
this. Seven males between the ages of 18 -25 years who had a history of offending
behaviour were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using Interpretative
Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (PDA) to
attend to both parts of the research aim. The IPA analysis resulted in five themes
being generated by the researcher. These included the experience of offending as a
childish game for parental attention, and also as a business enterprise. The
experiences of anger, fear and strength to survive in a hostile and competitive
environment were also generated from the accounts. Experiences of exclusion and
feeling unloved were also conceptualised as an overriding theme throughout the
accounts. Lastly, a cyclical experience of being 'stuck' in the offending position was
presented through the experiences of guilt and compliance, the need for resources
and a habitual propensity to anger. PDA was then used to consider the 'stuck'
theme through a wider contextual analysis. The discourses of 'guilt', 'class' and
'dangerousness' as utilised within the young offenders accounts were considered to
construct and contribute towards their experiences of the 'stuck' position.

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