Court-Involved Girls’ Perceptions of the Attainability of a Desired Possible Self and Its Connection to Past Adversity and Current Behavior

Abstract

Identity-based motivation theory identifies individuals’ perceptions of attainable possible selves as the future-oriented component of self-concept that is a necessary first step in an adolescent’s goal setting and motivation for action. This qualitative study analyzed data from interviews with 27 court-involved girls. Girls with histories of sexual assault and emotional abuse were less likely than others to have attainable possible selves. Girls with unattainable possible selves more often broke the law as adults and dropped out of school. Discussion of findings focuses on implications for future research and on potential intervention strategies to promote girls’ positive identity development.

Keywords

girls female delinquency qualitative research adversity identity

Many criminologists (e.g., Byrne & Trew, 2008; Farrall & Bowling, 1999; Giordano, Cernkovich, & Holland, 2003; Giordano, Cernkovich, & Rudolph, 2002; Laub & Sampson, 1993; Maruna, 2001) agree that identity influences decisions and behavior relevant to breaking the law. With a focus on identity change for adults with extensive criminal histories, they use different conceptualizations of the changes related to recidivism, describing changes variously as cognitive shifts and identity transformations (Giordano et al., 2002), increased self-efficacy (O’Brien, 2001; O’Brien & Harm, 2002), shifts in how individuals think about their lives (Veysey, Heckman, Mazelis, Markoff, & Russell, 2007), and constructions of personal life narratives that people use to make sense of past illegal activity and how they can move beyond it (Maruna, 2001). In contrast to the attention to adults’ identity development, limited research considers the identity development of court-involved girls.

Oyserman’s (2015a) psychological identity-based motivation (IBM) theory holds promise for understanding delinquent girls’ identity development and its relationship to completion of high school, a salient prosocial activity during adolescence, and to discontinuation of illegal behavior. An early study to apply IBM to delinquency found that compared with delinquent youth, nondelinquent youth more often had hopes related to school or employment and they also more often feared academic failure (Oyserman & Markus, 1990). The delinquent youth more often expected to be depressed or to be heavy drug users in the future. This research provides some evidence of the applicability of IBM theory to understanding the circumstances and needs of delinquent youth, though there remains a need to extend research to girls. The theory also holds promise because various interventions based on the theory have been able to increase school success and decrease delinquency (Oyserman, 2015b).

In IBM theory, the concept, self, includes self-esteem (i.e., positive or negative regard for oneself) and identities (i.e., self-descriptions such as poor, personal traits such as shy, and social roles such as student) (Oyserman, 2015b). Individuals’ perception of their possible selves is the future-oriented component of self-concept, and it is an essential first step in becoming who one wants to be (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Possible selves “provide a goal post for current action and an interpretive lens for making sense of experience and so should influence both well-being and motivation” (Oyserman & James, 2011, p. 117). A balance between a desired possible self and its antithesis, a feared possible self, further motivates people to strategize and act to attain their desired self (Oyserman & Markus, 1990).

Typically in the United States, during adolescence, proximate future identities tend to focus on academic achievement (Oyserman & James, 2011), and future identities after a longer period involve assuming adult roles such as an employee with a particular occupation. Relevant to our research, in the transition to a prosocial adult lifestyle, girls must be able to imagine future identities that include their filling prosocial roles as adults. They also must feel that their possible self is connected to their current self, that the actions necessary to become the possible self are consistent with the current self, and that the possible self is attainable (Bi & Oyserman, 2015; Oyserman & James, 2011). IBM theory directs attention, then, to an examination of how girls see themselves, what they want to be like in the future, whether they feel possible selves are attainable, and the fit of their actions to attaining possible selves.

Due to financial, educational, and other problems that lead to frustration and failure, for many youth who break the law, the construction of a believable and satisfying possible self is difficult (Erikson, 1959; Oyserman & Markus, 1990). Given the potentially motivating quality of a possible self and the identification of barriers to prevent the actualization of such motivation, IBM theory is relevant to understanding the behavior of court-involved youth. However, with few exceptions (Clinkinbeard & Murray, 2012; Oyserman & Markus, 1990; Pierce, Schmidt, & Stoddard, 2015), the theory has not been applied to this group, and it has not considered the many adversities common to court-involved girls that may affect their identity development.

Working within a tradition distinct from IBM theory, feminist and some other criminologists have highlighted the multiple adversities common to court-involved girls. These adversities include high levels of physical and sexual abuse, witness of domestic violence, loss of family members to violence, and parent–child conflict (Belknap & Holsinger, 2006; Belknap, Holsinger, & Dunn, 1997; Bloom, Owen, Deschenes, & Rosenbaum, 2002; Bloom, Owen, Rosenbaum, & Deschenes, 2003; Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 2004; DeHart, 2008; McCabe, Lansing, Garland, & Hough, 2002; Miller, 2008; Schaffner, 2007; Wood, Foy, Layne, & Boyd, 2002). Developmental psychologists and feminist criminologists have not joined their theoretical and research contributions to examine the connection of court-involved girls’ typical adversities with their identity development. It is especially important to broaden understanding of girls in court at this time, because their proportion of juvenile court caseloads has grown to over one quarter of the youth (Furdella & Puzzanchera, 2015).

The purpose of the research described in this article is to draw on both feminist criminological research (summarized by Belknap, 2014) that emphasizes adversities common among court-involved girls and IBM theory (Oyserman, 2015a) to generate and address unique research questions that guide the analysis. Consistent with feminist epistemology (Sprague, 2005), an aim of this research is to suggest interventions for court-involved girls that would promote strategies for attaining realistic possible selves and reduced their illegal behavior.

The Theory of IBM

In IBM theory, individuals create possible positive and negative identities as part of their possible future selves (Oyserman & James, 2011). Possible future selves are individuals’ conceptions of who they could become, would like to become, or are afraid of becoming (Markus & Nurius, 1986). A person constructs working theories of possible identities by considering personal strengths and weaknesses and by observing other people who seem similar to oneself attain desired goals (Oyserman & James, 2011). Possible identities are created and discarded; they are adjusted to maintain or improve current self-esteem (James, 1890). Thus, past, current, and future possible identities may differ from each other.

A person’s identity includes descriptors (e.g., an athlete), personal traits (e.g., outgoing), social roles (e.g., mother, daughter), and content related to each of these (e.g., pride in being a good student) (Oyserman, 2015b). For youth, descriptors reflecting school achievement (e.g., college-bound, high school dropout) tend to be core components of identity. Individuals often consider multiple identities when they contemplate action, and they order these identities in time periods (i.e., the past, present, and the future).

Possible identities are important influences on current action (see the extensive literature review by Oyserman & James, 2011). The created possible self, which includes future identity, serves as a roadmap, though sometimes current action is inconsistent with aspirations for future identity. IBM theory provides three explanations for the discrepancy between current action and desired future self: (a) a disconnection between current self and possible self, (b) a feeling that actions required to attain the possible self are incompatible with the current self, and (c) the perception that the possible self is unattainable, so therefore action is not required (Oyserman & James, 2011). Departures from goal-oriented action are likely for youth who are in trouble with the law because they disproportionately lack the financial and social support needed for realigning actions to support an identity characterized as successful and law-abiding (Jarjoura, Triplett, & Brinker, 2002; Kort-Butler, 2010; Mennis et al., 2011).

As noted above, school-focused possible identities are especially salient for youth. Positive school-focused identities encourage goals, values, and beliefs that support academic achievement and prosocial behavior in school settings (Oyserman, Johnson, & James, 2011). Supporting this proposition, research has demonstrated that middle schoolers with positive possible academic identities have greater end-of-year grade point average improvement than other youth (Anderman, Anderman, & Griesinger, 1999). Especially for low-income students living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, positive school-focused future identities could be vital to academic success (Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2006; Oyserman, Terry, & Bybee, 2002). Because youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods are overrepresented in juvenile courts (Haynie, Silver, & Teasdale, 2006), a disproportionate number of court-involved girls live in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Thus, future identities as successful students are highly relevant to the academic success of girls in juvenile court.

Although many youth conceive of possible identities that are consistent with positive school performance, some have difficulty maintaining these identities from conception to attainment. Conflicting goals and youths’ difficulties regulating behavior that aligns with the desired future identity can stand in the way of assuming a desired positive identity (Oyserman et al., 2006). Research on perceptions that a desired future identity is unattainable and research on inconsistencies between the desired future identity and actual behavior can suggest interventions aimed at aligning actions with positive perceptions. In fact, although they have not focused on court-involved girls, random-assignment experiments have provided evidence of effective intervention strategies that help youth develop school-focused identity attainment strategies and lead to their achieving desired future identities as successful students (Oyserman, 2015b; Oyserman et al., 2006; Oyserman et al., 2002).

Feminist Criminological Research on Girls in Juvenile Court

Criminological research that has documented a number of adversities that may explain girls’ possible selves and their thoughts about achieving desired identity. These adversities include victimization, family disruption and conflict, and exposure to violence as especially common to court-involved girls, and as more frequent, longer lasting, and starting earlier for girls than boys (McClellan, Farabee, & Crouch, 1997). For example, Belknap and Holsinger’s (2006) study to identify gendered risk factors for 444 delinquent youth revealed significantly higher rates of all types of abuse for girls. Several scholars also have highlighted the high proportions of girls suffering sexual victimization, often by a parent or other family member (Abram et al., 2004; Acoca, 1998; Belknap & Holsinger, 2006; DeHart, 2009; Wood et al., 2002). Further revealing their heightened exposure to violence and adversity, many girls in the juvenile justice system report witnessing a person dead or dying or the loss of a loved one to death, incarceration, or abandonment (Morash, 2016; Schaffner, 2006).

Several studies show that a high proportion of girls in the justice system were exposed to negative family experiences that include inadequate monitoring, lack of parental support, neglect, abuse, exposure to violence, and being “kicked out” of their homes (Acoca & Dedel, 1998; Baumrind, 1996; Broidy, 1995; Morash, Stevens, Yingling, 2014). Youth are sometimes exposed to multiple forms of violence in a family, as there is a connection of assaultive behavior between some family members (e.g., siblings) and assaults between other family member pairings (e.g., parent with parent) (Dixon, Howie, & Starling, 2005; Salisbury, Henning, & Holdford, 2009; Slep & O’Leary, 2005). Although these types of adversity are widely recognized and may impede girls’ creation and perceived attainment of positive possible selves, scholars have not linked them to identity development as conceptualized in IBM theory.

Research Focus

In an application of Oyserman and James’s (2011) IBM theory, the current study examines how court-involved girls view their possible selves and the attainability of their desired selves. In an integration of IBM theory and selected findings from feminist criminological theory, the study also examines identity in relation to adversities common to girls in juvenile court. Finally, the study examines the connections between girls’ view of their possible selves to both the prosocial activity of participation in or completion of high school, and to continued lawbreaking after aging out of the juvenile justice system. The following research questions are addressed:

Research Question 1: How do court-involved girls describe their possible selves?

Research Question 2: Do they perceive their possible selves as attainable or unattainable?

Research Question 3: Are girls’ perceptions of possible selves related to their experiences of adversities, their completion of high school, and their continued engagement in illegal activities?

Method

Data

The data were generated from a larger study of the backgrounds of girls who were heavily involved with juvenile court, their experiences in correctional programs, and their illegal behavior, school involvement, and employment. For the larger study, face-to-face interviews had produced qualitative data collected from 27 girls and 21 professionals designated by the girls as people who knew them well and who they were willing to have interviewed for the study. The data had been organized in NVivo software for qualitative analysis. In addition to the text presenting participant responses, data read into NVivo included a timeline of events (i.e., a list of the events and the ages at which they occurred). This timeline is further described below.

Sample

Maximum variation sampling was used to select a heterogeneous group of girls with high involvement in a Michigan county juvenile court. This purposeful sampling technique results in a widely varying sample and allows the documentation of common patterns across diverse circumstances (Creswell, 2007; Patton, 2002). For two reasons, only girls above 17 were recruited for the study. First, the age restriction allowed for collection of retrospective data for the earlier periods of adolescence. Second, at age 17, girls in the study site (Michigan) were treated as adults by the courts, so recommendations for juvenile court interventions would not apply to older youth. All eligible youth who had lived in a 12-bed group home that served as the county’s primary residential placement for girls were invited to participate, 17 completed the interviews, and the one other girl missed her appointment and then could not be located. None of these girls were living in the group home at the time of the interview. Five of the 17 girls recruited from the group home also had lived in at least one other residential treatment setting, but they were no longer in these settings. Court personnel assisted in identifying 17 additional potential participants with high court involvement, and 10 were located and agreed to participate. The criteria for inclusion of these girls in the research was that they had been intensively involved with the court and were at least 17 years old, and thus were no longer under juvenile court supervision. Indicating their high involvement in juvenile court, five of these participants had been in residential programs other than the group home, three were recipients of intensive counseling and probation services, one was in foster care, and one attended a court-run school with extensive services. A total sample size of 27 girls was attained (response rate = 77%). Girls identified and consented to contact with 23 professionals, of whom 21 agreed to participate.

Study participants ranged in age from 17 to 19, with 17 year olds making up slightly more than half the sample. The racially diverse sample included 51.9% (14) White participants, 18.5% (5) Black participants, 22.2% (6) multiracial participants, 3.7% (1) Asian participant, and 3.7% (1) Hispanic participant. Just under half (40.7%) of the participants were mothers. About half (51.9% or 14) had dropped out of school and were not in job training programs. Only a small portion (14.8% or 4) of the sample reported current employment. Based on both girls’ and professionals’ responses, most girls had used drugs or alcohol (21), been truant (18), or had run away (16). Some also engaged in physical fighting (12), committed larceny shoplifting (9), or assaulted a parent or sibling (7). Just four girls had more serious, repeated offenses including selling drugs, prostitution, felony theft, and robbery. More than half of the girls (59.2% or 16) continued to engage in illegal behavior, most often fighting and using drugs.

Materials

For the girls, the semistructured interview schedule began with questions about racial and ethnic identification, age, number and types of places lived, schools attended, and peers in each of the schools and living situations. In the next section of the interview, questions relevant to the adversities considered in the present analysis focused on periods living apart from parents, reasons for living apart; obstacles and difficulties each girl faced; and times when life was and was not going well. Probes followed the general questions to elicit information about specific adversities known to be common among girls in the juvenile justice system: the girls’ safety in places lived, adequacy of food and clothing, exposure to violence and death, pressured or forced sex, and other physical and emotional harm. Additional questions focused on past and current illegal behavior and relationships with family members. The measures of past and current lawbreaking included girls’ self-reports of both undocumented acts (i.e., no court or police contact) and acts girls said led to arrests or formal charges. The final interview sections included questions about girls’ identities. To elicit responses related to possible selves, participants were asked: “What are your dreams for the future? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years?” Participants were then asked, “Realistically, how would you describe the kind of person you will actually be and what you will be doing in 5 years?” If the responses differed, the participants were asked to describe why the discrepancy existed between the possible and anticipated possible self.

The life history calendar method was used to determine the order of the events the girls described (Roberts & Horney, 2010; Sutton, 2010). In applying this method, in the first part of the interview, the interviewer prompted study participants to identify easily remembered events, such as moves between neighborhoods and schools, changes in living arrangements (e.g., living with mother, living with grandparent), and first contacts with police and the court. These events were arranged on a timeline, and subsequently reported events were periodically filled in on the timeline so that a sequence of events was available for consideration during the analysis. To avoid recall problems and participants’ interview fatigue, the timeline began at age 12. To improve accuracy in the timeline, at least at the end of each section of the interview, the interviewer went over the timeline and asked the girl to assist in improving the accuracy of the ordering of events. Supporting the validity of this approach, Habermas and Bluck (2000; also see Ruspini, 2002) found that most adolescents are adept at assessing the causal ordering of important life events.

To increase credibility of findings, a semistructured interview was also used for the professionals. A parallel set of questions to those used with the girls regarding adversities, family circumstances, places lived and schools attended, delinquency, and more general areas, such as times when things were going well or poorly for the girl, were posed. Professionals worked as probation officers (five), group home staff (13), and staff in other programs (three) (e.g., shelters). In this article, information from professionals is denoted by referring to “the professional.” In many cases, a girl and professional filled in gaps left by the other or validated each other’s comments. To assess girls’ patterns of delinquency, reports of the professional and the girl were considered to identify the fullest range of illegal behaviors; girls reported more delinquent activity than did professionals.

Procedure

Interviews were conducted between 2009 and 2010. For the girls, a three-part interview was carried out in one, two, or three sessions, depending on the girl’s attentiveness and the length of her responses. Professionals were interviewed in one session. Girls were provided with a US$20 gift card incentive for each of three interview sections. Following Institutional Review Board approved protocol, study participants provided written consent if they were age 18 or older. For study participants below 18, a parent or guardian provided written consent, and the study participant provided written assent. Girls’ interviews were carried out at their homes or public places (e.g., a public library), and professionals’ interviews were carried out in their offices. Audio recordings from the interviews were transcribed and read into NVivo software for coding and analysis.

Analytic Strategy

The first step in the analysis was to create reliable, reproducible coding schemes for themes present in the qualitative data, and then to code the themes and factual information. Themes reflecting numerous types of childhood adversities had previously been coded for a different analysis (Morash et al., 2014). The first author and an advanced doctoral candidate confirmed intercoder reliability for the presence of each adversity for 10 cases (96.5% agreement). Intercoder reliability was established for the remaining themes with 10 cases (100% agreement), and the first author coded the remaining cases. Responses relevant to possible selves were coded as attainable if the girl provided: (a) a direct confirmatory statement or (b) an indirect statement implying ability to attain the desired possible self (e.g., “I believe I can reach my goals”). Responses were coded as unattainable if the girl’s comments about the expected possible self contradicted the previously given description of the possible self. Responses were coded as unclear if she indicated that she did not know whether she could attain her desired possible self. The reasons for lack of fit of current identity and action with future identity were coded into the themes identified by Oyserman and James (2011): (a) A disconnection exists between current possible self, (b) girls express feelings of incompatible between current actions and those required to attain possible self, or (c) the possible self appears unattainable, therefore action is not required.

Responses to questions about current illegal behavior were coded as either reflecting desistance or a continuation of lawbreaking. Similarly, self-reported responses were utilized to determine girls’ level of academic achievement. Coding reflected whether girls had discontinued efforts to earn a high school diploma, were in school, or had completed high school. Because this information was factual and did not involve a judgment by the coder, it was simply coded by the first author.

In the second step of the analysis, the NVivo software was used to generate descriptions of key coded themes. In addition, the query function in NVivo software was used to examine the connections between girls’ perception of the attainability of her possible self and several coded themes. The first set of queries identified connections between girls’ possible selves and various negative childhood experiences. The second type of query examined connections between possible self and participation in education. The discovery of discrepancies between current academic standing and the attainability of the possible self—for instance, a girl who had dropped out of school but who expected to hold a position requiring considerable education—led to additional review of the text for evidence of a fit between actions and possible self. The final type of query produced information on the connection of perceived attainability of the possible self with continuation of illegal activities. For each NVivo query, first patterns of interconnecting themes were identified, and then the actual transcribed text was examined to develop a deeper understanding of how themes were connected. The life calendar was also examined to provide an understanding of the sequence of events.

Results

Attainability of the Possible Self

Girls most commonly associated possible selves with stable employment (18 or 66.7%), a college education (17 or 63.0%), getting married and being a mother (16 or 59.3%), and/or independence (e.g., renting an apartment, being able to pay bills without assistance; 13 or 48.1%). For example, Girl 1 stated, “Well, I’ve always had this mental picture in my head. I’ve always just wanted to go to college and get my studies.” Girl 8 also noted academic goals as well as desires for financial stability. She stated,

I don’t want everything in the world. I don’t need all the money in the world and the best of everything, I just want to be able to get by and feel comfort . . . live comfortably. Not live like, “Oh my god how am I going to pay the bills this month” type life. And I want my school . . . I want school to be right.

Other participants, such as Girl 3 and Girl 7, shared family-related goals for the future. Girl 3 stated, “Eventually I’ll get married; someday a long way from now I will have children, I think. That sounds kind of icky to me right now, but I’m sure some day they’ll be okay.” Girl 7 concurred, stating her plan “to get married and have kids, and live a perfect little life [light laugh].” None of the girls associated a desired possible self with illegal activity or drug use.

The majority of the girls (65.4% or 17) believed their possible self was attainable, a much smaller percentage (11.5% or three) believed their possible self was unattainable, and about one quarter (23.1% or six) were unsure about attainability. Responses coded as unsure included direct statements, such as Girl 16’s comment, “I don’t know. I hope. Like, I honestly don’t know. You’ve just got to wait and see.”

Each girl had a different vision of who she would like to be in the future. Some aspired to pursue higher education and others wanted to be great mothers to their children. Describing the attainability of her desire to become a journalist, Girl 20 stated, “Most definitely, yeah. I have plans. I have goals. If I continue to do the same thing I’m doing with school, then I will accomplish anything I want to. I’ll be anything I want to be.” Other girls were less consistently optimistic about their futures. Girl 8 initially described her ideal possible self as someone who was happy, healthy, lived comfortably, received a good education, and was a famous singer. When subsequently asked who she thought she would be in 5 years, Girl 8 expressed less confidence in her ability to attain her desired possible self, stating “. . . I can’t be sincere and say I think that’s going to happen. Like I said, I have a lot of doubts but I won’t get into that. I just see myself at an okay point.” Then, when asked where she would be in 10 years, she only mentioned her hopes of being married and becoming a mother. Finally, when asked who she believed she would realistically be in the future, she stated,

Hmm, well I’m not really big on school so I’m probably just going to try to hurry through to get that all done. I won’t even lie. Probably still struggling, I know I’ll be struggling a lot. Probably my whole life I’ll be struggling. I see myself at least okay and on my own, but still not doing that great but at least okay. I’ll be able to live. I won’t be struggling really bad but I just think, the one thing I didn’t really want to talk about with myself is kind of just controlling that and like not letting it take over me, some of my feelings, just emotions but I think I’ll be okay, hopefully, God willing.

Ultimately, Girl 8 significantly reduced her expectations for attaining her desired possible self when comparing who she would like to become with who she believed she was likely to become. Other study participants who believed their possible selves were unattainable expressed disappointment with their current situations, and their assessment of the current situation was related to their expectations that they could not attain a desired possible self. Their negative self-perceptions were derived from an understanding of their context and the overwhelming obstacles they had to overcome to become successful.

Revealing a lack of fit between her current situation and the identity she hoped to attain, Girl 9 said, “I’ll be a billionaire. We’re gonna probably be in the Bahamas somewhere or in Cancun, Mexico or in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or something.” Girl 8 had less extravagant aspirations, but she felt she could not attain them:

My dream is to be a singer. Honestly at this point in time, the way things are going for me, I’m not really doing the greatest, but I can see myself just, I won’t say living comfortably, but getting to that, transitioning to that point where I’m starting to get my own place.

These two examples illustrate differing aspirations and perceptions of attainability of the possible self. In addition, they highlight the difference between an incongruence of the desired possible self with current realities.

Adversity and the Possible Self

Consistent with the literature on court-involved girls, more than a third of the sample reported experiences of emotional abuse or neglect (44.4% or 12), intimate partner violence (40.7% or 11), or witnessing violence in their community or school (40.7% or 11). One third reported experiencing each of the adversities: exposure to unnatural deaths (e.g., drug overdose) of family or peers, being “kicked out” of their homes, and sexual assault. Less than a third, but still a sizable minority, reported experiencing multiple sexual abuse incidents (26.9% or eight), mutual domestic violence with a parent (25.9% or seven), or physical parental abuse (18.5% or five).

Table 1 presents the relationship between girls’ perceived attainability of their possible selves and type of adversity. The numbers in parentheses represents the number of girls in each category. The nine girls who reported being sexually assaulted described the lowest frequency of thinking their possible self was attainable. Just 44% believed their possible self was attainable, 11% believed their possible self was unattainable, and 44% were unsure about attainability. To a lesser extent, the 12 girls who reported emotional abuse tended to feel their desired possible selves were unattainable. Although half of them perceived their possible self as attainable, one quarter believed their possible self was unattainable, and the remaining quarter was unsure.

Table 1.

Type of Adversity by Perceived Attainability of Possible Self.

Type of adversity	Perception of attainability of possible self
Type of adversity	Attainable	Unattainable	Unsure	Total
Emotional abuse and/or neglect	50.0% (6)	25.0% (3)	25.0% (3)	100.0% (12)
Intimate partner violence victim	54.5% (6)	9.1% (1)	36.4% (4)	100.0% (11)
Saw violence in community/school	54.5% (6)	18.2% (2)	27.3% (3)	100.0% (11)
Kicked out	77.8% (7)	11.1% (1)	11.1% (1)	100.0% (9)
Saw unnatural death	55.6% (5)	11.1% (1)	33.3% (3)	100.0% (9)
Sexually assaulted	44.4% (4)	11.1% (1)	44.4% (4)	100.0% (9)

In contrast to girls who experienced sexual assault and emotional abuse, most (77.8%) who had been “kicked out” of their homes believed their possible selves were attainable. They described a pattern of being repeatedly kicked out of their homes for a few days during which they lived with a parent who maintained a separate household, another relative, or a friend. Though the data do not provide confirmation, it is possible that the girls developed a sense of self-efficacy when they arranged for alternative living situations, and this self-efficacy led them to see themselves as capable of achieving their possible selves.

Possible Self and Academic Status

As noted above, most girls associated a positive possible self with attending college and pursuing a professional career. Table 2 compares girls who did and did not drop out of high school on their perceptions of possible selves. Academic status is broken into two categories: (a) attending school (including GED programs and college) or being a high school/General Educational Development (GED) graduate and (b) discontinued education prior to high school completion. A larger percentage of girls still attending or having completed school perceived their possible self as attainable (76.9%) than those who had dropped out (53.8%). The finding that the aspirations of the fairly large proportion of girls who had dropped out of school were inconsistent with their educational achievement is further explored below.

Table 2.

Academic Status by Perceived Attainability of Possible Self (N = 26).

Academic status	Perception of attainability of possible self
Academic status	Attainable	Unattainable	Unsure	Total
High school	76.9% (10)	.0% (0)	23.1% (3)	100.0% (13)
Dropped out	53.8% (7)	23.1% (3)	23.1% (3)	100.0% (13)
Total	65.4% (17)	11.5% (3)	23.1% (6)	100.00% (26)

Note. N = 26 due to missing data.

Attainability of Possible Self and Continued Illegal Behavior

The majority of the girls (15 of 26, or 57.7%) stated they were still engaging in delinquent acts, but the seriousness varied. For example, Girl 27 described relatively minor delinquency, stating,

I did a couple of things, but not anything big that could get me in trouble. Like cow-tipping [knocking cows over in a field] and stuff, going on other people’s property, but all kids are going to try that stuff.

In contrast, Girl 13 described the more serious act of getting into a fight with her sister and assaulting her.

Table 3 displays the connection between continued lawbreaking and perceived attainability of possible self. Girls who reported lawful behaviors were optimistic about their futures, as demonstrated by nearly three quarters of them reporting an attainable possible self. The remaining three girls who had not engaged in delinquent behaviors were unsure of the attainability of their possible self. Girls who continued illegal activity were less optimistic about attaining a desired possible self. Of the 15 girls who were still engaging in delinquent behaviors, 60% believed their possible self was attainable, 20% believed their possible self was unattainable, and 20% were unsure of the attainability of their possible self. Thus, all reports of an unattainable possible self and half of the reports of a perceived unsure attainability of possible self were by still-delinquent youth. In summary, an attainable possible self was more commonly reported by girls who were still in school and who had discontinued delinquent behaviors.

Table 3.

Continued Lawbreaking by Perceived Attainability of Possible Self (N = 26).

Lawbreaking behavior	Perception of attainability of possible self
Lawbreaking behavior	Attainable	Unattainable	Unsure	Total
Delinquent	60.0% (9)	20.0% (3)	20.0% (3)	100.0% (15)
Lawful	72.7% (8)	.0% (0)	27.3% (3)	100.0% (11)
Total	65.4.% (17)	11.5.% (3)	23.1% (6)	100.00% (26)

Note. N = 26 due to missing data.

Inconsistency Between Perceived Attainability of Possible Self and Education Level

More than half of high school dropouts perceived their possible self as attainable. For seven girls who anticipated a professional career, there was an inconsistency with their status as high school dropouts. Guided by Oyserman and James’s (2011) proposed explanations for inaction to achieve a desired future identity (i.e., not attending school), we further examined the responses of all of the girls. Ten girls in the sample identified one of the three explanations for their inaction to move toward goals.

Six of the 10 girls identified a discrepancy between their current and desired possible selves. One of them, Girl 23, identified the three possible professional careers: lawyer, veterinarian, and animal control worker. However, she expressed uncertainty about attaining any of the career goals. She stated, “I think if I’m motivated enough, but even if I’m not, if I just, you know, keep up, keep on it, then yeah. But if not I see myself here [in the same circumstances] if that doesn’t happen.” Similarly, Girl 17 identified a disconnection in her current and desired possible self (a business owner) stating, “Hopefully I stay, become more motivated and stay motivated and wiser.” In these examples, the girls acknowledged a disconnection between current motivation and the motivation required to attain the identified possible selves.

Three girls identified incompatibilities between their current identities and the steps required to attain the possible selves. Girl 2 explained,

I want to graduate. That’s my dream, and I want to be a pediatrician, but you need like so much college and schooling. You have to be smart in math. But, I mean, I want to be a pediatrician because I love kids. But, I don’t know other than that.

Although her ideal possible self involves a career as a pediatrician, she identified a deficiency in math skills required to attain the goal. According to IBM theory, inaction would result from her perception of the complex steps to attain her desired possible self. Similarly, Girl 11 identified incompatibilities between her current strengths and her desire to become a special education teacher. She explained,

Um, yeah, that’s what I’ve wanted to do my whole life, and that’s what I still want to do. But I obviously have to get my GED, and I have to go to college, but I could just be a para-pro [paraprofessional educator].

These two examples of incompatibility differ from the examples of disconnections because they involve a perceived absence of characteristics or tools needed to take steps toward goals, whereas disconnections involve lack of motivations or unwillingness to pursue the goal.

One girl (Girl 21) described her inaction to try to attain her positive possible self. When asked who she wanted to be (what she will be working toward) in the future, she stated,

My own place. I really want my own place. That’s in [the next town], somewhere far away from here. These people make me want to get far away from them. That’s why I smoke so much [marijuana]. They get on my nerves, so when I don’t smoke I get mental. I don’t like acting crazy on these people because they don’t want to see that. So I just smoke in my room and close the door. Don’t be bothered.

Then when asked what she will realistically be doing in 5 years, she stated, “Probably the same shit, just in my own place.” This response exemplifies how a girl who states that her possible self is attainable could avoid taking action needed to attain the goal because of the external constraints she sees.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to describe how, after a period of substantial juvenile court involvement, girls viewed their possible selves, and to examine the relationships of possible selves to (a) adversity during adolescence, (b) current academic status, and (c) illegal behavior after aging out of the juvenile justice system. Education, employment, motherhood and marriage, and independence were the most common themes characterizing girls’ possible selves. Although most girls believed their possible selves were attainable, several were not taking steps that would lead them to become the women they wanted to be.

It is notable that contrary to Oyserman and Markus’s (1990) findings that delinquent youth tended to describe deviant possible selves, the girls who we studied emphasized prosocial identities related to education, work, self-sufficiency, and child rearing. This finding may be an artifact of the interview questions, which did not specifically ask girls to identified feared selves, but instead asked more generally about possible selves and their attainability. Even if this is so, it does appear that girls often have hopes of filling prosocial roles in the future, but at times, they lack realistic strategies for doing so.

Depending on the type of adversity the girl had experienced, there were either positive or negative connections with the perceived attainability of possible self. Unexpectedly most girls who had been “kicked out” of their homes believed their possible selves were attainable. Participants’ comments suggest that although being kicked out created an immediate crisis, in the longer run it led to a sense of independence and maturity. In a prior analysis of the present data, (Morash et al, 2014) found a high prevalence of being unwanted by caregivers, exposure to drug use in the homes, and premature responsibilities (e.g., paying bills, providing health care or support for parents, and/or fulfilling primary caretaking role for siblings). Consequently, time away from home while being “kicked out” may actually provide some positive experiences in the form of relief from negative family circumstances and the development of self-sufficiency, though there are negative results of increased exposure to victimization outside the home (Morash et al, 2014). In contrast, only half of the girls who were emotionally abused and an even smaller proportion of those who had been sexually assaulted viewed their desired possible self as attainable. Different types of adversities appeared to have differing connections to perceptions of the attainability of the possible self.

The analysis did not fully clarify why several girls who felt they could attain their desired future self did not take steps to obtain the necessary education. Perhaps girls did not see their school dropout status as permanent. Alternatively, using an identity theory different from the IBM framework, McAdams (2011) proposed that in early adolescence, youth communicate their identities through fables that are heavily based on fantasies. This and other theories suggest that usually during late adolescence or the early adult years, youth revise or discard the fables and present a more realistic identity that includes consideration of social constraints (Elkind, 1981; Hammack, 2008; McAdams, 1985, 2011). Even though study participants were in late adolescence, for some of them the optimism about attaining a positive possible self appeared to be more consistent with a personal fable than identity development expected for girls in late adolescence. Future research could usefully explore and more fully explain inconsistencies between girls’ expectations for their possible selves and current realities, which often included limited education.

Implications for Practice

Particularly if findings are replicated in other settings, the study results have implications for the design of interventions with potential to help court-involved girls. However, to design effective interventions, it is important to keep in mind that more than a vision of a possible self is needed for youth to be motivated to take the steps to achieve that vision. For instance, IBM researchers have shown that individuals must see the relevance of current actions to the future (Lewis & Oyserman, 2015). Also the context affects the identity that comes to a person’s mind and that motivates certain actions (Oyserman, 2015a; Oyserman, Destin, & Novin, 2015).

Relevant to context, the discovery that girls expelled from their homes had relatively high confidence in their ability to achieve positive future identities, but those exposed to other types of abuse did not, suggests that services should be tailored to the type of adversities court-involved girls have experienced. Girls who must manage on their own are likely to need life-skills education, material assistance, and unless they have arranged for it themselves, safe housing. The association of girls’ sexual assault and emotional abuse experiences with seeing a possible self as unattainable suggests that trauma-responsive assessment and programming is needed to identify and respond to the effects of these types of negative experiences on girls’ identity development. Beyond the individual level, the systemic problems that leave girls vulnerable to multiple forms of abuse also need to be addressed (Goodkind, 2009).

Academic involvement and success were positively connected to the perceived attainability of possible self. Conversely, high school dropouts were least likely to report an attainable possible self. Relevant to this finding, Mann, Smith, and Kristjansson (2015) described a short-term program designed to promote identity development for at-risk girls in a middle-school setting. The girls had many adverse experiences with abuse and neglect and were failing academically, but a short-term intervention positively affected academic self-efficacy, connectedness to school, and identity development. In the research by Mann et al., the follow-up period was relatively short (90 days), the sample is restricted to one school, and long-term outcomes such as delinquency were not considered. However, given the importance of school involvement that we found, this type of programming should be further developed and studied for girls in juvenile court. Interventions aimed at helping youth develop strategies for becoming academically successful have been shown to promote academic success in at-risk youth (Oyserman et al., 2006).

The finding of a positive connection between desistance from illegal activity and the perception that a possible self is attainable is consistent with a key developmental intervention science tenet, that a focus on positive identity development reduces undesired outcomes such as delinquency (Eichas, Meca, Montgomery, & Kurtines, 2015). Based on this tenet, interventions should support adolescents in discovering their unique capabilities and encourage them to construct long-term goals and a plan to achieve those goals (Eichas et al., 2015). For example, a program called The Miami Youth Development Project promoted identity development by helping youth take part in self-directed activities that they selected as means to achieve a change in their life goals, followed by opportunities to speak about how these activities were incorporated into their desired positive selves (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 2004). The process had the spillover effect of reducing barriers to positive identity development, for instance, by discouraging substance use and other illegal behavior that would stand in the way of achieving goals. Notably, identity-focused developmental interventions are highly consistent with feminist theories (Belknap, 2014) that emphasize girls’ (and others’) exercise of agency, but still recognize contextual and structural constraints, and therefore the need to improve opportunities for girls and prevent and address the harm that many court-involved girls have experienced.

Limitations and Future Research

As in the case of all research with purposive, nonrepresentative samples, the generalizability of the study findings is restricted. The juvenile court sample is not only limited to one county in the United States, but the juvenile court was relatively unique in its strong emphasis on treatment rather than punishment. A study aim was to explore the utility of drawing on both IBM and feminist criminological work on the backgrounds of girls in juvenile court to generate unique research questions. This approach did shed new light on the identity of court-involved girls, and findings have implications for future research that considers identity theory as it relates to girls in court and for potentially useful interventions. However, the research is a first step in showing the utility of this approach to research.

The study is also limited because the questions about identity focused only on girls’ possible selves, and the girls were not followed beyond late adolescence. Possible identities can be feared and undesired (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Future studies should use longitudinal designs to explore a greater range of prior, current, and future self-perceptions to gain a greater understanding of the development of identity over time.

Conclusion

Despite design limitations, this study provided unique insight into the way in which girls in the justice system perceived themselves. The findings are consistent with a large body of literature identifying the importance of academic struggles, damaging family contexts, and heightened rates of victimization experienced by girls in the juvenile justice system. It adds to that literature by showing the connections of adversities of various types to identity, and thereby it provides insight into court-involved girls’ difficulties in developing an attainable possible self. The study also highlights the girls’ diverse needs and therefore the fact that uniform programming cannot meet the developmental needs of all girls. Girls would be most assisted through interventions that help girls to link concrete strategies that lead to desired possible selves. Practitioners can assist in this area by providing prolonged support for girls exiting the system and utilizing the skills they have acquired during times of adversity to assist in their development of a prosocial identity.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Family and Children Together Coalition, Michigan State University.

Author Biographies

Marva V. Goodson is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on identity development, gender, and substance use.

Merry Morash is a professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. Her research focuses on gender and crime, specifically on women and girls in the justice system and domestic violence in immigrant communities.

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