Negotiating an Identity in an Alternative to Incarceration Program

The impact of being sentenced to an Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) program was the study of investigation for this book. Starting from a Vygotskian, socio historical theory and narrative theory, the identities of ATI clients were conceptualized as social positions that developed through a historical process. The aim of the present study was to understand how youth transform their identities in an ATI program in New York City. This period of transition focused on the overall life structure of participants, which requires the consideration of both the self and the world. Thus, the present study can be seen as an application of the Vygotsky/Scribner framework which posits that, in order to understand a psychological system such as identity, one has to also understand the general history of humanity, the history of individual societies, and the life history of the individual in society.