Ways out of Delinquency – Reintegration of Young Convicted Delinquents

So far, too little is known about the conditions under which convicted delinquents succeed in reintegrating into a law abiding way of life and how they could be supported in doing so. Hence, in an explorative longitudinal study, conditions and progresses of such developments that significantly contribute to a life without delinquency should be explored. In order to do so, the developments of a total of 50 delinquents are focused upon comparingly.
     Within the scope of this study, detailed qualitative interviews are conducted with individuals who are supported by probation services in various ways. In a first interview, the pre-history of the conviction, the experience of being incarcerated, of the handed out punishments, respectively, as well as the expectations and attitudes towards a future life should be addressed. Thereby, the expectations that are imposed upon probation services by the participants of the study are also of interest as well as their own activities and efforts concerning reintegration. At intervals of about 18 months, all participants schould be interviewed regularly, in order to document the development of their lives, how the offers on the part of the probation services are experienced, and which factors contributed to be able to lead a life without delinquency.
     In this way, a) the conditions and progressions concerning the reintegration of delinquents as well as, in this context, b) the experience of the offers granted or refused by probation services should be determined. On this basis, it should be clarified in what constellations and in what way processes of reintegration can be supervised and supported in a meaningful and subject-specific manner.