NCJ Number
223206
Date Published
2007
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This chapter explores young women’s reasons for starting and stopping offending, notably during the transition to adulthood; it argues that the concept of capital, and how it is accumulated in the transition to adulthood, is crucial in understanding young women’s propensity to offend; and it explores the value of expenditure of capital in the transition towards a nonoffending lifestyle.
Abstract
Offending is one source of capital accumulation, pending wider opportunities within mainstream society. The capital that the young people in this study gained from offending in youth was a viable, yet short-term source of identity, status, recognition, reputation, and power. As they moved into adulthood, however, offending became less likely to give them longer-term social and symbolic capital, both of which were more likely to be gained from legitimate sources, although more often through opportunities to take on responsibilities for children or partners, rather than through employment; hence, the greater likelihood that the women would stop offending sooner than the men. When they had such opportunities, they tended, concurrently to move away from offending peers and emphasized renewed contact with, and support from, family members or nonoffending partners. Lastly, those with no opportunities for capital accumulation or expenditure were more likely to continue to rely on offending to obtain the benefits of such capital. The key to stopping offending may be in offering young people legitimate opportunities for generativity and responsibility-taking where they are recognized as valued members of society. In this chapter, the reasons for young women’s involvement in offending, their reasons for continuing to offend, and the factors that appear to be associated with their subsequent decisions to desist are considered. References