?Hjärtat känns inte svart längre?
En kvalitativ studie om hur den kriminella bakgrunden kan påverka ungdomars identitet
The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how young people's current identity is affected by their criminal background. We also want to understand the impact of resources in these young people?s social networks (that is their social capital) on their life course and formation and reformation of their identity. The theoretical frameworks used (as a tool to be able to analyze the empirical data) are theories of stigma, identity and social capital. The empirical study was conducted using semi-structured interviews that focused on questions about the life-story of informants. The empirical data is divided into different themes such as the informants' family relationships, neighborhood, friendship as well as their schooling. Further described is the informants? first offense and the time spent at the prisons / "youth homes". We also discuss the informants? distance from crime, the informants? self-images at present and their idea about the future. Finally, we discuss how various factors during the life course shape and reshape the young criminal's identities, the factors that contributes to a break from criminal acts and the difficulties they encounter while dissociating from previous networks and life style.