Young males in disadvantaged metropolitan neighborhoods : Risk factors that lead to a criminal lifestyle

The main purpose of this study is to investigate how we can understand the correlation between social vulnerability and crime among young men with a foreign background. I intend to highlight the reality of the everyday life of six convicted young men shortly before they committed criminal acts as I aim to understand the influence of socioeconomic risk factors in their lives. The selected research method is a qualitative text analysis based on a true criminal case which occurred in a disadvantaged Stockholm suburb. The selected young men who appear in this study are aged between 17-21 and were among the main suspects. The empirical data consists of verbatim transcripts of interrogation interviews with police investigators and the court verdict. The study’s results have been analyzed based on the theory of dynamics of human behavior and on the basis of risk factors. The results show that all the young men have poor school results, poor communication with their family and that all live in cramped housing conditions that does not offer enough opportunity for private space. Several of the young men lack income and employment and are financially supported by family members. In summary, the results show that the social risk factors that occur in their lives are similar and that their current life situation is a result of the social existence in which they reside