Swedish Adolescent Female Offenders with Limited Delinquency: Exploring Family-Related Narratives from a Developmental Perspective

Abstract

Family factors are central both for adolescent development in general and for the development of delinquency. For female delinquency they appear to be particularly important. The aim of this study was to explore family-related statements in adolescent females’ delinquency narratives from a developmental perspective. Interviews with nine female adolescent offenders were analysed using consensual qualitative research (CQR). The main findings consisted of five themes concerning the family in relation to the participants’ delinquency. In the delinquency narratives, families were described as being involved in the entire process of delinquency. Urges both for proximity and distance in family relations were expressed in the narratives. Delinquency was also found to be related to transactions between participants and their families. Our findings indicate that the developmental perspective on family factors for females with limited delinquency is a meaningful way to further investigate this group of offenders. Furthermore, this perspective could in the long-term also potentially contribute to the design of adequate community-based measures for this yet under-researched group of young offenders.