Getting Out and Staying Out: A Conceptual Framework for the Successful Reintegration of Aboriginal Male Young Offenders

• NCJ Number: 199224
• Journal: Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 58-60
• Author(s): Patti LaBoucane-Benson
• Date Published: September 2002
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

The purpose of this Canadian study was to gain a better understanding of the process of successful reintegration of male Aboriginal young offenders, focusing on those who have been repeatedly involved with the young-offender system.

Abstract

Specific objectives of the study were to identify key concepts in the development and maintenance of positive behaviors and lifestyles for young Aboriginal offenders; develop a conceptual framework that describes the process; and offer recommendations for policy and programming for young Aboriginal offenders based on the study findings. Interviews were conducted with six adult Aboriginal ex-offenders who had undergone successful reintegration as young offenders. They were asked to reflect upon their experiences as young offenders and their personal process of reintegration. All of the interviewees spent most of their lives in urban settings, and five of them spent a significant amount of time in custody as young offenders. The interviews focused on three subject areas: getting into trouble, getting out of trouble, and staying out of trouble. The conceptual framework that emerged for the successful reintegration of Aboriginal young offenders featured the core concept of "weighing the consequences." The respondents referred to both meaningful consequences they had experienced in their lives that prompted them to make significant lifestyle changes, as well as consequences they had experienced that only reinforced their criminal lifestyle. This suggests that Aboriginal youth caught in the cycle of crime who experience and perceive the negative consequences of their criminal behavior are more likely to commit themselves to behavioral and lifestyle change and maintain that change. A significant factor in this behavioral change was the avoidance of negative peer relationships and involvement with positive relationships that reinforced a law-abiding lifestyle.