RT Article
T1 ‘What the f**k is maturity?’: young adulthood, subjective maturity and desistance from crime
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 59
IS 5
SP 1178
OP 1198
A1 Coyle, Brendan
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1672140684
AB This article contributes to the ‘dissection’ of maturation by advancing previously overlooked, subjective aspects of the concept. The article draws upon life story research with 20 young adults in Belfast, Northern Ireland. An analysis of their accounts and narratives highlights the importance of maturity as an adaptive narrative coping mechanism for young adults who are structurally disbarred from achieving normative expressions of adult status. The analysis further explores the relationship between subjective maturity and desistance from crime, indicating the potential risks that a selective criminal justice policy focus on an absence of maturity among 18–25-year-olds may have on young adults coming into contact with the criminal justice system.
K1 Maturity
K1 Young adulthood
K1 Desistance
K1 Infantilization
DO 10.1093/bjc/azz010