Prosocial Identities and Youth Violence

Abstract

Objective: Despite a recent surge of interest in the important role that identity change plays in the desistance process, much of the empirical work has been qualitative and conducted with small samples, usually of serious adult offenders. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of adolescents in South Korea, this study explores how the development of their prosocial identity is related to their own social bond and network and collectively how this process relates to a downward trend in violent behavior. Method: Negative binomial random effects models were estimated to assess the withinindividual effects of the proposed predictor and mediators on the outcome variable. Then, longitudinal path analyses were conducted to explore the overall and specific mediation processes. Conclusion: First, there is an inverse relationship between prosocial identity and violent behavior across time. Second, our own identity of self might not be entirely a social construction based on others' appraisals but is intimately connected to the actions that we intentionally take. Third, positive effects of a prosocial identity on subsequent violence are mediated primarily by the avoidance of association with delinquent peers. Theoretical implications and limitations are discussed.

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

“…Accordingly, a number of previous studies examined the relationship between deviant identity and youth delinquency, and supported the relationship (Asencio & Burke, 2011; Bartusch & Matsueda, 1996; Burke, 1980; Felson, 1980, 1989; Heimer & Matsueda, 1994; Kinch, 1963; Matsueda, 1992; Matsueda & Heimer, 1997; Ray & Downs, 1986; Reynolds & Ceranic, 2007; Sparks & Shepherd, 1992). In contrast, some previous research using the same Korean data analyzed herein found the non-significant relationship between deviant self-identity and subsequent involvement of different types of delinquent behaviors (Kim & Lee, 2019; Na & Paternoster, 2019). Specifically, Na and Paternoster (2019) examined prosocial self-identity and its link to the involvement of eight different types of delinquent behaviors including bullying, and found the non-significant relationship net of other measures such as delinquent peer association and school attachment.…”

“…In contrast, some previous research using the same Korean data analyzed herein found the non-significant relationship between deviant self-identity and subsequent involvement of different types of delinquent behaviors (Kim & Lee, 2019; Na & Paternoster, 2019). Specifically, Na and Paternoster (2019) examined prosocial self-identity and its link to the involvement of eight different types of delinquent behaviors including bullying, and found the non-significant relationship net of other measures such as delinquent peer association and school attachment. Kim and Lee (2019) examined the self-deviant identity and its link to the involvement of 13 different types of delinquent behaviors including smoking, drinking, and bullying.…”

Value orientations, life transitions, and desistance: Assessing competing perspectives

“…It has also resulted in empirical works attempting to test these theories against one another (see Rocque, 2017;Skardhamar et al, 2015). Most tests have included both life transitions and identity changes in regression models to compare their relative effects in explaining changes in offending over time and provide (at least partial) support for both Laub and Sampson (2003) and Paternoster and Bushway's (2009) perspectives (e.g., Copp et al, 2020;Na & Paternoster, 2019;. Copp and colleagues (2020) used panel data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationship Study (TARS), and analyzed data from the Rutgers Health and Human Development Project (HHDP); both found that identity changes and changes in life circumstances (e.g., conventional relationships) independently impacted desistance from crime (see also Skardhamar et al, 2015).…”

Assisted Desistance in Formal Settings: A Scoping Review

“…2020; LeBel et al . 2008; Maruna 2001; Na and Paternoster 2019; Paternoster and Bushway 2009; Radcliffe and Hunter 2016; Stevens 2012; Stone 2015), giving it a central role in this process. Nevertheless, it remains the case that the more entrenched an offending career has become, the greater the likelihood that the individual wishing to desist will need to make quite significant changes to their core identity (Farrall 2019, p.22).…”