Narrative roles and emotions of youth identified as being at risk of criminal exploitation

Objectives
To investigate how young people who have been identified as at risk of criminal exploitation view their role in offending


Design
The 2016 Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation report recognised that criminal groups target vulnerable young people. The present study investigated the types of crimes reported by young people who were at risk of gang involvement and the roles they reported playing when committing an offence.

Methods
Participants were purposively sampled from a group of 14 to 18-year-old males, who had been identified as at risk of involvement with gangs or organised crime and referred to a community-based programme. 20 young people who self-reported offending with others took part in the study. Participants completed: 1. A self-reported offending questionnaire. 2. A Narrative Roles Questionnaire (NRQ) to elicit how the offender interpreted his actions and his emotional responses. Data from the questionnaires was analysed using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA-I). In the case of the NRQ this demonstrated which of the established themes participants’ roles fit; and in the case of the self-reported offending questionnaire, the relationship between categories of offending.


Results
The results show distinct patterns for acquisitive and violent offences, and differences in how participants viewed their roles in offending.


Conclusions
Young people at risk of criminal exploitation identify with different narrative roles, which has implications for the design and implementation of interventions for this group.