“You can run but you can't hide”: How formerly incarcerated young men navigate neighborhood risks

Laura S. Abrams and Diane L. Terry

Children and Youth Services Review, 2014, vol. 47, issue P1, 61-69

Abstract: Young adult men who have spent time in the juvenile justice system, who are disproportionately young men of color, are at high risk for re-incarceration, violent victimization, and premature mortality. Different from their same-aged peers, the transition to adulthood among formerly incarcerated young men is often focused on economic and physical survival, rather than on exploration and gradual independence. In this paper, the authors use a qualitative, narrative methodology to examine formerly incarcerated young men's perceptions of neighborhood risks and the strategies that they use to navigate these risks in their daily lives. Seventeen formerly incarcerated young men from Los Angeles County, ages 19–24, participated in two in-depth interviews and a neighborhood mapping exercise. The authors find that perceptions of risks clustered around the major areas of gang violence, guns, and police presence. Strategies to contend with these risks fell into three main patterns: 1) avoiding dangers and diversions; 2) calculated risk taking; and 3) running and hiding. Each of these strategies entailed a set of consequences for the overall well-being of these young men. This paper is significant in that it reframes the discourse concerning a notoriously high risk group to one of a risky playing field in which every day decisions contribute to strategies for survival.

Keywords: Formerly incarcerated youth; Neighborhoods; Safety; Ethnic minority men; Transition age youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914001091
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:47:y:2014:i:p1:p:61-69

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.012

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().