ISSN:
0817-8542
Published:
04/2001
Subject:
Abstract
This paper examines the concept of incarceration as an alternative "rite of passage" for young Indigenous males. The study was based on a series of interviews with young Indigenous offenders in the Northern Territory. The findings suggest that the concept of incarceration as a rite of passage needs to be substantially reconfigured. While imprisonment can certainly serve as a testing ground for young Indigenous males, it does not replace traditional rites of passage in remote communities, and needs to be recognised as a phase in criminal trajectories characterised by a lack of access to basic social resources.