Deviant Identity and Offending: A Longitudinal Study of South Korean Youths

Abstract

This study examines deviant identity in relation to youth offending by combining items tapping both self-appraisal and reflected appraisal. In particular, using survey data from 3,446 Korean youth across five waves of the Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), findings from group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) present four distinct offending groups—a high-rate chronic group, stable non-offending group, adolescence-limited group, and declining group. Then, findings from the multinomial logit model reveal that deviant identity is a robust predictor of offending for subgroups of adolescents involved in offending at any level in comparison to stable non-offenders. Accordingly, this study supports the idea that deviant identity should be considered as a prominent predictor of a variety of types of youth offending.

Crime Prevention in the Classroom: Gendered Impacts on Offending

“…Specifically, labeling theory contends that criminal behavior is due to an individual’s reaction to labels that are given by others (Lemert, 1951b; Matza, 1964; Tannenbaum, 1938). Reactions that attempt to control the behavior of offenders can trigger processes—such as stigmatization and development of s deviant self-identity—that escalate rather than control deviance, perhaps trapping an individual into a life of crime (O et al, 2022). Studies suggest that those who care more about bonds to conventional others and have a greater investment in conformity are presumably more susceptible to negative consequences if their deviance is detected, labeled, and punished (e.g., Bernburg & Krohn, 2003; Liberman et al, 2014; Paternoster & Iovanni, 1989).…”