How Young Offenders’ Perceive Their Life Courses and the Juvenile Justice System: A Systematic Review of Recent Qualitative Research

Adolescence is a key period in shaping later delinquency trajectories. Qualitative studies provide a valuable complement to quantitative research by clarifying young offenders’ perceptions of risk and protective factors for delinquency. The present systematic review addresses a gap in the literature by summarizing the findings of recent qualitative studies of young offenders’ narratives concerning their life experiences and their contacts with the juvenile justice system. It also provides an overview of the various methodologies the 39 included studies used to collect and analyze these narratives. Results show that young people are capable of expressing and giving meaning to their life experiences. Although they frequently mentioned violent family backgrounds and difficulties in understanding criminal procedures as influencing their delinquent behaviors, they had varying opinions about the impact of substance abuse on these behaviors. This synthesis of research into young offenders’ perceptions of their experiences highlights the need to take into account these perceptions when designing interventions aimed at understanding, preventing, and responding to youth delinquency.