@misc{9244124,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how young people in Finland make sense of profit-oriented drug selling and
construct drug dealer identities. Drug use and related harms have increased globally in recent years.
In Finland, an increase in minors selling drugs for financial profit has been noticed by the police and
a non-governmental youth work organization Children of the Station. The aim of this thesis is to
expand knowledge on young people’s drug selling through a qualitative approach, and to address a
research gap in a field that has predominantly relied on survey data in studies of youth drug dealing.
A narrative analysis was conducted on semi-structured interviews with young people who have started
selling drugs for financial profit while underage. The theoretical framework of this study draws on
narrative criminology and narrative identity theory. These frameworks provide insight into how
young drug sellers justify their involvement in illicit and potentially harmful activities through
storytelling, and how they navigate the moral boundaries that shape their decisions regarding the
continuation of their drug-selling careers. The findings show that while the initiation into drug selling
was narrated as an outlet for personal empowerment that emphasized individual agency, the
continuation of selling was not narrated as a similarly voluntary choice. Moral boundary work was
negotiated by framing oneself as a “good” seller in opposition to unethical seller who, for example,
sell to children and by describing drug selling as a business, thereby legitimizing illegal activity as a
rational choice. These findings highlight how young drug dealers wish to be perceived as intelligent
and responsible sellers, opposing the media’s narrative of deviant youth who glorify crime.}},
  author       = {{Virtanen, Fanny Maria}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Persistence, Desistance and Rational Deviance – a narrative analysis of Finnish youth selling drugs for financial profit}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}