My Future Self: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Juvenile Detention Stories

A growing body of criminological research centers on the “future self,” examining how young people link their present behavior to who they would like to become. Within juvenile justice, evidence suggests that the more clearly youth can imagine their futures, the more likely they are to make thoughtful, goal-directed choices that reduce delinquency. However, little is known about how justice-involved youth envision their future selves. This study draws on narrative stories written by 277 youth in a short-term juvenile detention facility in the southwestern United States, collected through the social learning platform Journey.do. Leveraging the lens of narrative criminology, an inductive thematic analysis identified four main recurring theme categories from youth responses: (1) Values That Guide Career Choices; (2) Personal Improvement Goals; (3) Family Participation; and (4) Educational Goals. The findings indicate that youth in detention hold optimistic future aspirations in several spheres of life that the system should utilize to promote desistance and positive outcomes. Areas for future research and policy, such as elevating youths’ voices and redesigning system opportunities to support their idealized and individualized future selves, are discussed.