Moral identity in action: Young offenders' reports of encounters with the police

Conversation is a site where social identities are achieved and negotiated (see for example Widdicombe & Wooffitt, 1995). We examine some 'young offen ders" reports of encounters with the police and analyse the identities and categorizations which are used or occasioned. Rather than looking for evide nce of some kind of failure of moral reasoning we show that these reports i nvolve detailed analyses of social situations. In particular we note that t hey contain reflexive analyses of how the speakers' moral identity is visib le to the police, and that this serves as a resource to analyse the moral i dentity of the police.