The aim of this study was to investigate the process of identity formation among incarcerated adolescent offenders and the influence of context in this process, based on significant elements from their life stories, as narrated by the subjects themselves. The study design was cross-sectional and qualitative. Interviews were conducted with representative teenagers using the life story method, and network analysis was then employed to determine the patterns of semantic connections in the discourse. Among the main results, it was found that the experience of adolescent offenders, particularly within the family environment, created regulatory opportunities in the process of identity formation; adolescents experienced the infraction as a means of acquiring consumer goods and gaining respect and social recognition, negating the emancipatory possibilities; incarceration was shown to be a reinforcing structure, preserving the status quo; and, finally, the life project tended to favour the maintenance of heteronomy. It is concluded that identity formation among incarcerated adolescent offenders was shown to be a process for regulatory possibilities, hindering the development of autonomous capacity in search of human emancipation. This process of identity formation offers fertile ground for immersion in the world of crime and criminal recidivism.\n\nKey-words: Violence; identity issues; risk behaviors; delinquency; crime; incarceration.

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