My Criminal Friend: Maneuvering Friendships and Abstaining from Crime in High-Risk Areas in Denmark

Mie Birk Haller*, Thomas Friis Søgaard, Torsten Kolind, Mads Madsen, Geoffrey Hunt, Tobias Kammersgaard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This article highlights the perspective of 39 young men who live and have friends in a Danish high-risk neighborhood. We look into their use of microlevel tactics to socialize with crime-involved friends while managing to abstain from crime. Maintaining this balance was a constant everyday processual negotiation of friendship relations, moral obligations, and risk assessment. However, the most severe consequences of having criminal friends were to endure police control and potentially be known and registered by the police as criminals or ‘gang-affiliated’. In that way, the criminal justice system was deeply entangled in the social lives of these young people.

Original languageEnglish
JournalYouth Justice
Volume23
Issue2
Pages (from-to)161-181
Number of pages21
ISSN1473-2254
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2023

Keywords

  • crime
  • desistance
  • ethnic minority youth
  • friendship
  • high-risk areas
  • peer pressure
  • policing
  • DELINQUENT PEERS
  • DESISTANCE

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