Abstract
This thesis develops a theoretical framework for explaining offending among young male offenders, and generates provisional insights and hypotheses about ethnic differences among this group. The study involves qualitative interviews with 51 young male offenders under sentence in Young Offender Institutions: 19 white, 14 Black-Caribbean, 8 Black-Mixed, and 10 Asian. The framework highlights how young males become offenders because of range of 'criminogenic constraints' in their backgrounds, consistent with strain, subcultural, control and psychological theories. However, it also highlights how individuals become offenders in part resulting from their own volition. That is, offenders help create some of the criminogenic constraints which contribute to their downfall, and must ultimately choose, actively, to pursue crime, over and above these constraints. This requires that they embrace certain motivations to develop into offenders. Such motivations are not simply reducible to the criminogenic constraints they experience, and draw potentially on wider cultural influences. Furthermore, these motivations play an important role in shaping the extent of their offending and the offences they carry out. The framework provides a basis for comparing ethnic groups. Importantly, the research suggests that there is much commonality among young male offenders from different ethnic groups. This being said, insights into possible ethnic differences were identified, which could be used to provide hypotheses for further research. White offenders appeared to have more psychological problems, serious drugs or alcohol problems and be more disposed towards burglaries and car crime. Black-Caribbean offenders appear to have fewer of these types of problems, appear more highly motivated by offending to spend on consumption-oriented lifestyles, and more often involved in robbery. Asian offenders appear to have the least difficulties in their backgrounds, but also appear least developed in their offending.