Muslim narratives of desistance among Norwegian street criminals: Stories of reconciliation, purification and exclusion

Abstract

Stories about sin, regret and forgiveness are fundamental in Islam and other world religions. Islamic revivalism mediates a redemption narrative tailored to street criminals who want to break with the cycle of stigmatization, imprisonment and violence. Drawing on so-called conversion narratives, this article examines the repertoire of such stories among male street criminals in Norway who turn, or ‘return’, to Islam. I have identified three narrative types: reconciliation, purification and exclusion. I explore the content of these stories and the work they do for tellers and their audiences. Arguably, these narrative types represent forms of desistance that open up and restrict particular paths into Islam and out of street crime.