When young people who have turned their lives around talk about their criminal past, they are trying both to explain their actions and to forge a new identity. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows how stories about honour among thieves, responsibility and coming of age play a key role in helping people move away from a life of crime.
A person who has committed crimes but wants to turn their life around needs - both for their own sake and for the sake of others - to understand and explain who they used to be, who they are today, and who they want to become.
"It's not enough simply to stop committing crimes. You also need to create a narrative about your life that makes the change understandable, both to yourself and those around you. That story is key to forging a new identity and coming to terms with one's past life," says Hanna Edgren, who interviewed 20 young adults about their journey into and out of crime.
It's hard to say 'when I was young and foolish' about something that happened only very recently
But whilst older offenders, after several years in prison, can talk about their criminal past in terms of "my old life" and say that they have now become better people, this is more difficult for young people.
"It's hard to say 'when I was young and foolish' about something that happened only very recently," says Hanna Edgren.
That is why the stories told by young people who have left criminality behind them sound different from those told by older people. Their stories about why they have stopped committing crimes are really more about the fact that they have now grown up. People often desist from crime after something dramatic has happened. They have become frightened and do not want to die. Drugs - which were sometimes the gateway to a life of crime - may now be the reason they want to quit. Becoming parents or meeting someone special are also cited as reasons.
Hanna Edgren's interviewees who had walked away from crime were aged between 18 and 30, and all of them had started their criminal careers when they were very young - one as early as primary school age. The stories of why they had once started committing crimes centred on turbulent upbringings, poverty and difficulties at school, but also on the temptations: a sense of belonging, excitement and money.
"Crime became a way of socialising," says Hanna Edgren. "In their accounts, they often try to strike a balance between taking responsibility and offering explanations. They don't want to shirk their own responsibility, but neither do they want to come across as bad people."
According to Hanna Edgren, it was important for those desisting from crime to emphasise that they had a moral compass. They drew a distinction between "decent criminals" and "scum", with whom they absolutely did not want to be associated. Decent criminals are those who adhere to what used to be called "honour among thieves" - an unwritten moral code in criminal circles based on loyalty and silence. "Scum", on the other hand, are those who, for example, commit sexual offences against children or rape.
Her thesis provides insights into how change is actually experienced and understood by young people themselves. She wants to show why stories, even complex and contradictory ones, are important to those who work with young people in social work, the prison service or various support services.
"If people are to be able to change their lives, there needs to be room for them to be seen as more than just their past mistakes," Hanna Edgren concludes.
