Negative Identity

The concept of negative identity has been used frequently in clinical settings
to explain antisocial acts and delinquency in youth as well as gang-related behavior. A 1988 study by Randall Jones and Barbara Hartman found that
the use of substances (for example, cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs) was
higher and more likely in youths of identity-diffusion status. Erikson and
others have argued that troubled youths find that elements of a negative
identity provide them with a sense of some mastery over a situation for
which a positive approach has been continually denied them. In the examples
cited, deviant behavior provided both this sense of mastery and an identity. 420