Cases in Qualitative Research

Research Reports for Discussion and Evaluation

Andrea K. Milinki

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781351867207
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This collection of research articles illustrates a wide variety of qualitative methods for gathering and interpreting data.

Case 1
Turning Points in the Lives of Young Inner-City Men Forgoing Destructive Criminal Behaviors: A Qualitative Study

MARGARET HUGHES
San Diego State University

ABSTRACT. This article explores the lives of inner-city African American and Latino American young men previously involved in trajectories of destructive behavior, including violence, illegal drug marketing, and other crimes, who had made positive behavioral changes and were now contributing to their community’s well-being. In-depth interviews with 20 young men examined their life courses from the time of their earliest memories. Personal and environmental transitions that contributed to their decisions to change were uncovered. Maturation was a significant factor in their transition experiences; however, findings indicated four other significant factors: respect and concern for children; fear of physical harm, incarceration, or both; contemplation time; and support and modeling. Implications for social services providers, policymakers, and youth program staffare discussed.

From Social Work Research, 22, 143–151. Copyright © 1998 by the National Association of Social Workers, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Youths and young adults represent the largest population of property and violent crime arrests in the United States. The 1993 crime statistics show that juveniles younger than 18 years accounted for 41 percent of arrests for all serious crimes, of which 18 percent were for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter and 20 percent were for aggravated assault. Young adults ages 18 to 24 accounted for 26 percent of arrests for all serious crimes, of which 41 percent were for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter and 27 percent were for aggravated assault. These arrest rates are alarmingly disproportionate for African Americans and Latinos (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996). The arrest rates should alert researchers to the critical need to find solutions to these problems.

The majority of research has focused on the causes of criminal behavior. However, understanding the causal factors of crime is only half of the solution; the other half is to understand what makes young men forgo crime. Examining life courses of individuals has uncovered important information about how attitudinal and behavioral changes develop. Elder (1985) defined the life course as a pathway differentiated by age: “Movement through the age-graded life course in each [institutional] sphere may correspond with social expectations or depart markedly from them” (p. 30). The concepts of trajectories and transitions are unifying themes. A trajectory is defined as “a lifeline or career, a pathway over the life span. The pathway may be psychological…or social. Worklife, marriage, and parenthood represent multiple, interlocking social trajectories” (pp. 17–18). A pathway of criminal activity would also be considered a trajectory. Transitions or “changes in state are embedded in trajectories; the latter give meaning and shape to the transition experience” (p. 18). Whether a transition is present or absent may be reflected in the choices made by the individual. First significant job, committed relationship, and childbirth are examples of transitions. Several studies have used the life course perspective in an effort to understand how transitions affect a trajectory of crime (Caspi, Elder, & Herbener, 1990; Laub & Sampson, 1993; Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1996; Macmillan, 1995).

Sampson and Laub’s (1993) secondary data analysis of Glueck and Glueck’s (1950, 1968) longitudinal study of 500 delinquents and 500 controls found evidence that “childhood pathways to crime and conformity over the life course are significantly influenced by adult social bonds” (p. 243). The authors emphasized “the quality and strength of social ties more than the occurrence or timing of life events” (p. 246). Strong marital attachment and job stability were two transitions related to desistance from crime. These transitions are proposed as informal social bonds and forms of social capital that can facilitate positive change in behavior despite deviant trajectories from early childhood. Macmillan (1995) studied the changes three life course transitions (marriage, living at home, and labor force participation) had on crime rates among youths and young adults ages 15 to 24. Using a time series analysis of Canadian property crimes, Macmillan found significantly lower crime rates for youths and young adults in his sample who were married, lived at home, or were employed.

The uniform crime reports show a positive correlation between age and desistance from crime. Shover and Thompson (1992) offered several explanations as to why deviance desists with age, including loss of interest, ability to understand consequences of a criminal lifestyle, degree of payoff, disenchantment with a criminal lifestyle, and fear of consequences. The “differential expectations” influence individuals engaged in a criminal lifestyle to desist. These explanations suggest an age of maturation at which individuals reach a cognitive developmental stage that acts as a transition from a criminal trajectory. Gove (1985) suggested the age-criminal desistance correlation is influenced, in part, by normative, socially structured transitions (for example, marriage and childbirth). The adolescent and early adult years are ages when anomie, or normlessness, is most apt to occur, in part because of a lack of socially structured roles and uncertainty about the future. Gove argued that “if social roles change and life takes on structure and meaning, then deviance should decline accordingly” (p. 126).

Loeber and LeBlanc (1990) argued for a developmental approach—developmental criminology—to the study of delinquency. One focus of this approach is “the identification of explicative or causal factors which predate behavioral development and have an impact on its course” (Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1996, p. 13). This approach can also be used to study desistance from delinquency by identifying factors that affect decisions to turn from delinquency. This article describes a study that explored the lives of previously delinquent young men to uncover factors that facilitated their decisions to desist from criminal activity.

The Study

This study contributes to the literature by focusing on African American and Latino American young men who are desisting from crime after long criminal histories; one white young man who grew up in a predominantly African American community and who associated solely with African American youths was interviewed and used as a comparison. The study used primary data collection methods. One limitation of the study was its reliance on self-reported histories. Longitudinal panel studies like Glueck and Glueck’s are ideal because they increase reliability; however, such studies are rare because of time, money, and attrition. Some findings in this study matched transitions leading to desistance found in other studies, that is, marriage, childbirth, and labor force participation (Macmillan, 1995; Sampson & Laub, 1993). However, variations of these transitions as well as transitions not previously noted in literature were found.

Participants

Twenty young adult, inner-city men made up the sample population in this exploratory study. Demographics of the participants were diverse, particularly with respect to age, ethnicity, education, and city of residence. There were nine (45 percent) African Americans, three (15 percent) Mexican Americans, four (20 percent) Puerto Ricans, three (15 percent) Jamaicans, and one (5 percent) white young man who grew up in an inner-city community with a predominantly African American and Latino population. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 27. Throughout most of their adolescent years, they resided in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Only two participants were married; however, seven (35 percent) had children. Two other participants considered themselves fathers but were not the biological parent. Their educational backgrounds were less than high school, seven (35 percent); high school graduate, four (20 percent); GED, three (15 percent); trade school in addition to high school, three (15 percent); and some college, three (15 percent).

Criteria

The following criteria were used to choose the sample: male between the ages of 18 and 28, history of destructive behavior (that is, individual and group participation in violent acts, property crimes, other crimes against people, illegal drug marketing, and illegal drug use), evidence of efforts to make positive life changes (for example, legal employment; participation in programs emphasizing positive change; and self-reports indicating they no longer participated in acts of violence, illegal drug marketing and use, and other criminal activities), and evidence of positive involvement in the community (for example, mentoring for other youths at risk of engaging in destructive behaviors, volunteering with organizations promoting community improvement, volunteering with recreational programs for youths, and speaking against destructive behaviors in schools and other centers serving youths).

Data Collection

Data collection began with open selection by convenience. I selected the initial group of participants (five) from an intervention program I had worked with as a volunteer mentor for the preceding two years. Through information obtained from the program staff as well as personal knowledge from direct contact with some of the young men, I determined that each participant met the criteria for the study.

Intervention program directors, community leaders, and pastors identified the remaining participants using the study’s criteria. Nine participants were part of a residential program that accepted young men from across the United States. Three participants were identified by pastors of local churches, and three were identified by community leaders.

I collected data over a two-year period. I conducted in-depth interviews with each participant, each lasting approximately 90 minutes. I contacted sixteen participants a second time, either by phone or in person, for a shorter interview; four participants had moved and could not be contacted. I used data from the second interviews to validate interpretations and information, to obtain any missing information, and to include the sample as active participants in the study’s analysis. In addition, I made ethnographic observations of some participants from the first group over the two-year period.

Interviews took place in offices or the participants’ homes with no other people present. The interviews began by my verifying that each participant met the criteria. Then I collected demographic data (age, ethnicity, marital and parental status, education level attained, employment status, and place of residence). The remainder of the first interviews focused on open-ended, topical questions concerning experiences with family, school, law enforcement and criminal justice, significant people, intervention programs, community, street group affiliation (if applicable), and significant life events. I chose these topics to ensure that the participants covered significant life stages and agents contributing to their socialization. I asked the participants to detail those periods and events related to their decisions to make positive changes in their life course.

Data Analysis

I transcribed each taped interview verbatim. I then used the computer program, Qualitative Solutions and Research, Nonnumerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing 3.0 (1994) to manage and analyze the interviews. Analytic conclusions can be formulated by coding and then categorizing similar statements of experiences from data.

When examining the outcomes of individuals using Elder’s Life Course Dynamics model (Elder, 1985), it is important to consider the trajectories taken by other agents who influence the individual’s life. It is also important to examine the “connections between widely separated events and transitions, as in the relation between young adulthood and old age” (Elder, 1985, p. 34). A list of codes was predetermined that described phenomena related to me during the interviews and during my previous work as a mentor. The list contained codes describing influential agents in the participants’ lives (family, school, church, law enforcement, employers, peers, and role models), developmental periods (childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood), and phenomena connected to the onset of trajectories of criminal activity and desistance from crime. I subsequently read each transcript and categorized passages using these codes. The coded passages were analyzed to determine which were related to participants’ decisions to make positive changes in their behaviors. These passages were grouped and recategorized as factors facilitating positive change. Conclusions were drawn from these factors (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).

Findings

Conclusions drawn from the categorized passages indicated four significant factors: (1) respect and concern for children, (2) fear of physical harm or incarceration, (3) contemplation time, and (4) support and modeling. These factors are reported in summary form.

Respect and Concern for Children

The many crises faced, the all too frequent need to self-nurture because of absent parents, perilous environments requiring development of survival techniques, and a shortage of characteristics of a healthy childhood (for example, play, laughter, wonderment, pleasurable experiences, and feelings of security, love, and worth) give rise to an atypical childhood for many poor youths in the inner cities. Data revealed that these unhealthy childhood experiences were typical for participants throughout their juvenile and adolescent years. Perhaps because of their unhealthy experiences, these young men sensed the critical importance of a healthy childhood. Participants revealed the development of a deep-seated respect and concern for children. They alluded to experiences involving children as playing a role in their decision to change.

Six participants indicated that love for their own children was a factor leading to their decision to change. Ronnie stated that a traumatic incident involving his son led to his decision to change: “I robbed this dude one day, and I was high, and I had my son. He might have been like six months. He ran up on me with a gun, and he said, ‘I won’t kill you right now because your son’s in the carriage, but next time I see you man, it ain’t no tellin' what I’ll do.’ So after that, I was like man I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this. My son could a got hurt. You know bullets don’t have no name.”

The incident also evoked memories of his childhood pain from an absent father. He stated,

Sometimes I feel like I’ma die not knowing who my father is. So do I wanna go on not letting my kids know? It’s like a vicious cycle; it’s going on and on and on. Now somebody’s gonna have to change that. And you know, I’m steppin' off the merry-go-round. I mean this is in my whole family, the lifestyle…I feel like I’m a young man. I got a lot to live for. I’m steppin' off the merry-go-round. I’m going to make things happen. You know, things ain’t happening when you keep going around in circles. That’s what I want to do for mine.

George stated, “What’s workin' for me now, and what will work for me in the long run, I have a son. Without a doubt, I don’t want him to grow up and I don’t be around.” A similar statement was made by Michael: “But pretty much now, I’m just tryin' to establish with my daughter. I’d say that was the number one reason, other than me just wanting to get out of it [drug dealing and drug abuse], the number one motive to do the right thing.” Other participants made statements indicating their own children gave them a feeling of worth. Daniel stated,

Sometimes I look back at all the things I’ve done, and I be like, I knew there was some kind of plan that God had for me, and when I first moved up here, I said, “Look, I know I’ve been through a war.” I been shot and stabbed and beat down and all this. I said, “You gotta have something better. You gotta have something better.” I guess this is it, and I got a little girl. I’m tryin’, a black man trying to get custody of his child. I could never see myself saying, wow!, I’m really trying to get custody of a child, you know. But the good thing about it is that I’m able to do it.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Turning Points in the Lives of Young Inner-City Men Forgoing Destructive Criminal Behaviors: A Qualitative Study
• 2. Always Single and Single Again Women: A Qualitative Study
• 3. Collaborative Teaching of a Social Studies Methods Course: Intimidation and Change
• 4. The Impact of Homelessness and Shelter Life on Family Relationships Family Relationships
• 5. Student Perceptions of the Influence of Race on Professor Credibility
• 6. Psychotherapy Process Variables Associated With the Retrieval of Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Study
• 7. A Really Good Art Teacher Would Be Like You, Mrs. C.: A Qualitative Study of a Teacher and Her Artistically Gifted Middle School Students
• 8. In the Service of Citizenship: A Study of Student Involvement in Community Service
• 9. Urban Educators' Perceptions of Successful Teaching
• 10. Couples Watching Television: Gender, Power, and the Remote Control
• 11. The Process of Mentoring Pregnant Adolescents: An Exploratory Study
• 12. A Comparison of Alternatively and Traditionally Prepared Teachers
• 13. Sexual Attraction Toward Clients, Use of Supervision, and Prior Training: A Qualitative Study of Predoctoral Psychology Interns
• 14. The Management of Sexual Feelings in Therapy
• 15. The Other Side of the Story: Student Narratives on the California Drag, Alcohol, and Tobacco Education Programs
• 16. An Evaluation of a Pre-School Based Prevention Program: Longitudinal Effects on Children’s Alcohol-Related Expectancies
• Appendix A: Examining the Validity Structure of Qualitative Research
• Appendix B: Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Research
• Appendix C: Rigor in Qualitative Research: The Assessment of Trustworthiness