Martinez Damian J, Abrams Laura S
Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA.
Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2013 Feb;57(2):169-90. doi: 10.1177/0306624X11428203. Epub 2011 Nov 17.
Informal social support has long been touted as a key to success for young offenders, but little empirical work has concretized these benefits. This article explores the dynamics of informal social support for returning young offenders (ages 14-24), particularly in the context of peers and family members. The authors use a metasynthesis methodology to examine 13 qualitative articles and dissertations published in the United States from 1998 through 2010. Analysis of these texts found two major themes related to informal support from peers and family members. Young offenders "walked a fine line" with their peers, who provided not only a sense of belonging and possibly a route to material assistance but also temptations and opportunities to reengage with criminal activity. Family members provided the supports and comforts of "the ties that bind" but with potentially unrealistic expectations and reenactment of old roles and negative dynamics. Through this metasynthesis, the authors forge an understanding of informal social support that complicates its presumed benefits for the reentry of young offenders.
长期以来，非正式社会支持一直被吹捧为年轻罪犯成功改过自新的关键，但很少有实证研究具体阐述这些益处。本文探讨了回归社会的年轻罪犯（年龄在14至24岁之间）所获得的非正式社会支持的动态情况，尤其是在同龄人及家庭成员背景下的情况。作者运用元综合方法，研究了1998年至2010年在美国发表的13篇定性文章和论文。对这些文本的分析发现了与来自同龄人和家庭成员的非正式支持相关的两个主要主题。年轻罪犯与同龄人“如履薄冰”，同龄人不仅给予归属感，可能还提供物质援助途径，但同时也带来诱惑和重新参与犯罪活动的机会。家庭成员给予“维系关系”的支持和慰藉，但可能伴有不切实际的期望以及旧有角色和负面动态的重演。通过这种元综合研究，作者对非正式社会支持形成了一种理解，这种理解使其对年轻罪犯重新融入社会的假定益处变得复杂起来。
