Desistance Process Research Articles

The Irredeemable? How Men Convicted of Sexual Offenses Reflect and Reconcile Redemption and Condemnation Scripts on the Path to Desistance

ABSTRACT Desistance from sexual offending is of great import to scholars, practitioners, and the public. Despite theoretical advances in life course theories generally, the same work is only beginning for subgroups, like individuals convicted of sexual offenses, who may have a different desistance process than other types of offense categories due to the nature of the crime, structural disadvantage, and mandated treatment contexts. The current study considers the applicability of narrative identity theory, particularly the expression of condemnation and redemption scripts, among a sample of men convicted of sexual offenses. Using narrative analysis of in-depth interviews from a longitudinal qualitative dataset, cognitive scripts emerged in ways that uniquely apply to sex offending behavior and the experience of being labeled a ‘sex offender.’ Participants uniformly express condemnation scripts related to the labeling and structural experience of constant supervision by an array of entities, but seek and find redemption through the experiences offered in treatment. Findings from this study contribute to the growing literature on desistance from sexual offending and have implications for new theoretical developments within life course criminology.

Talking Good: Analysing Narratives of Desistance in Norway

Abstract Despite significant research interest in Norwegian penality, there remains much to be learned about how people in Norway experience life during and after punishment. This article is one of the first to explore the lived experience of desistance as narrated by Norwegian desisters. We analyse ‘small stories’ that either opened up or frustrated the co-creation of change, showing how desistance develops (or is stymied) at a micro level. Our analytical framework helped us understand our informants as active subjects navigating a complex terrain of psychological, relational and systemic processes. Informants described a long-term, unfinalized desistance process, leading in some cases to an extended experience of liminality and welfare supplication.

The Transformative Power of Trust: Exploring Tertiary Desistance in Reinventive Prisons

AbstractWhile prisons are often described as places of pain, despair and hopelessness, studies show that some prisoners under certain conditions report positive life changes happening in prison. This paper explores the connections between trust and desistance processes, specifically between the experience of being trusted and ‘tertiary desistance’. I argue that trust can be an engine of positive change in prison and that the experience of being trusted might even acquire additional value from the low-trust and risk-sensitive environment that most prisons normally offer prisoners. Finally, I discuss whether prisons that manage to get this balance right deserve to be called ‘reinventive prisons’.

Exploring the Social Capital Accounts for a Variation in Desistance and Its Relative Impact on Desistance at the Louisiana State Penitentiary

This study explores the social capital accounts for a variation in desistance and its relative impact on desistance at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The study adopted a survey research design, binary logistic regression, and a primary data source with a sample of 144 respondents to explore the study. The primary data source comes from the Louisiana State Penitentiary based on self-reported face-to-fact survey interviews initially taken May 2007 and followed by face-to-fact interviews officially obtained data over the period of a year and eight months regarding the same sample population. Results suggested that in the Before study, using self-reported data, there were only two social capital variables that were statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance among inmates. These variables were relationship with mother, which had the most predictive power regarding desistance process, followed by the who raised the inmate variable . The strongest of all variables in this study was the punishment adjustment, in particularly the psychological coping one. Keywords: Offenders, Age, Demographics, Desistance, Delinquents, Crime, Juvenile, Punishment, Incarceration, Offenders, and Justice system. DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/91-03 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

An Examination of the Relationship Between Desistance and Attitude Towards Life Sentence Punishment Among a Sample of Incarcerated Aged-Delinquent Offenders Housed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary

This study examines the relationship between desistance and attitude towards life sentence punishment among a sample of incarcerated aged-delinquent offenders housed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The study utilized a cross-sectional-survey research design and a primary data source. The primary data source comes from the Louisiana State Penitentiary based on self-reported face-to-fact survey interviews initially taken May 2007 and followed by face-to-fact interviews officially obtained data over the period of a year and eight months regarding the same sample population. Results suggested that in the Before study, using self-reported data, that human capital variables were not statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance among the sample of aged delinquents. There were only two social capital variables that were statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance among inmates. These variables were relationship with mother, which had the most predictive power regarding desistance process, followed by the who raised the inmate variable . The strongest of all variables in this study was the punishment adjustment, in particularly the psychological coping one. Further, the data suggested that inmates’ attitudes toward a life-sentence punishment were not as statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance. The After- study results showed no predictability with respect to desistance among any of the predictor variables. When comparing the desisters among the aged delinquents, juvenile lifers (younger group) desisted less than young adult lifers (older group), although no significant differences were found in the desistance rate of these aged-delinquents’ subgroups in the sample population. Keywords: Offenders, Age, Demographics, Desistance, Delinquents, Crime, Juvenile, Punishment, Incarceration, Offenders, and Justice system. DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/11-7-03 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

Investigating the Human Capital Accounts for a Variation in Desistance and Its Relative Impact on Desistance at the Louisiana State Penitentiary

This study investigates the human capital accounts for a variation in desistance and its relative impact on desistance at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The study used a survey research design, binary logistic regression, and a primary data source to investigate the study. A sample size of 144 inmates were surveyed for the purposes of analysis. The primary data source comes from the Louisiana State Penitentiary based on self-reported face-to-fact survey interviews initially taken May 2007 and followed by face-to-fact interviews officially obtained data over the period of a year and eight months regarding the same sample population. Results suggested that in the Before study, using self-reported data, that human capital variables were not statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance among the sample of aged delinquents at 5% significance level, but tend to be statistically reliable in distinguishing desistance among the sample of aged delinquents at 10% significance level. The After -study results showed no predictability with respect to desistance among any of the predictor variables. Among all the regression variables such as religion, education, past and present education, mental health, and punishment adjustment in the human capital account analysis, only punishment adjustment was statistically significant at 5% and 10% significance levels with a p-value of 0.006 (p<0.05). The study further revealed in the analysis that all the nine human capital variables, adjustment [LSAC1] was three times more likely to predict the desistance process. In other words, an aged delinquent offender who adjusts to prison is 3.12 times more likely to have a decrease in anti-social behavior than an aged delinquent who did not adjust to prison. Keywords: Desistance, Delinquents, Crime, Juvenile, Punishment, Incarceration, Human Capital, Social Capital, Sanction. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/112-15 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

“God is real”: Narratives of religiously motivated desistance*

AbstractThis study examines the role of Islam in shaping processes of criminal desistance among four men, each with extensive histories of crime and violence. The men's life histories are unique, first, in that they came of age in contexts of extreme violence and religious persecution—all men are Muslim and were children during the ethnic cleansing campaigns in Bosnia in the early 1990s—and second, in that they all identify their newfound or newly cemented dedication to Islam as the primary catalyst for their desistance. Thematic analyses rooted in the principles of grounded theory reveal some consistencies with extant research on religiously motivated desistance, including the role of faith as a means for self‐transformation and behavioral guidance. They also shed light on traditionally understudied mechanisms in the faith‐desistance relationship, including the power of religion to reconfigure masculine identities, to reconcile with traumatic pasts, and to cultivate a new moral universe. In examining these men's life histories, we make the case for considering the transformative benefits of Islam in studies of crime and desistance, and for disentangling the role of distinctive faith factors (e.g., faith and religious participation) in processes of change.

Facilitators of probation-based domestic violence perpetrator programmes: ‘Who’s in the room?’

The role that probation practitioners play in the desistance process has begun to receive much needed attention. Yet, the experiences of facilitators of probation-based, domestic violence perpetrator programmes have long been neglected. This article explores the experiences and wellbeing of eight facilitators from one cohort of the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in England. Drawing upon five-months’ observations and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how working with domestically violent men with insufficient knowledge, experience, or support, exacerbated within the context of Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, impacted significantly on facilitator well-being, professional identities, and practice. Practice implications are discussed.

Self-identity and persistent offending: a quantitative test of identity theory of desistance

Compared to a vast body of research examining the crime-inhibitory roles of structural forces such as stable employment, family support and neighborhood environment, relatively fewer research efforts have been devoted to explore the role of human agency in the process of desistance. This study quantitatively tests the propositions of identity theory of desistance, a relatively new theory on crime desistance that focuses on the role of offender self-identity. Using longitudinal data from a 20 years’ follow-up study of serious adult offenders, we examine whether a pro-social identity has a direct crime-inhibitory effect. Meanwhile, we test the heterogenous effects of employment and reentry programs that are conditioned on offender self-identity. Findings provide empirical support for the propositions of ITD. Respondents who experienced sanctions in the past were able to start a desistance process by constructing a pro-social identity. Their pro-social identities not only directly inhibited recidivism but also moderated the effect of employment and reentry programs. The findings enrich our understanding of offenders’ identity transformation and desistance.

Negotiating bereavement and loss: Influencing persistence and desistance from crime

Much previous research has considered experiences of bereavement and loss in a prison-based setting. This overshadows the nature of bereavement within the context of community supervision and probation delivery, resulting in inadequate explorations of the potential link to persistence and/or desistance from crime. Research into desistance has predominantly focused on relationships with those who are still alive. This article evidences an emergent theme of bereavement experiences within the context of probation delivery, relationships and desistance. It draws upon narrative research undertaken within a Community Rehabilitation Company in the north of England, collected as part of a doctoral thesis. Evidence demonstrates the similarities between the process of desistance and that of bereavement with the narratives of men and women reiterating how bereavement can influence the onset of criminal or risk-taking behaviour whilst highlighting emergent evidence on how bereavement can disrupt desistance. This enables the article to highlight the importance of resilience in the process of both bereavement and desistance.

The Body, The Self: How Women Ex‐Offenders in a Re‐Entry Program Negotiate Gendered, Embodied Identities, and the Implications for Desistance

Existing scholarship posits that gender is socially constructed, with meanings attributed to bodies that signify conventions of masculinity and femininity. Such embodied constructs are integral to self and identity, though these meanings can be negotiated and fluid. Recent criminological work has found that changes in identity are essential to desisting from crime and that desistance processes are gendered. Yet little extant literature has examined how gendered, embodied identities play a role in the lived experiences of women who offend as well as their efforts to desist from crime. This exploratory study aims to address this dearth. In‐depth interviews with women ex‐offenders in a re‐entry program reveal two central constructions of gendered, embodied identity that framed the women’s descriptions of their lived experiences before and during their incarceration: sexualization and pathologization. These meanings played a role in participants’ efforts to desist from crime, contributing new dimensions of understanding about this topic.

The role of employment as a mediator in correctional education's impact on recidivism: A quasi-experimental study of multiple programs

There is ample evidence that prison-based educational programs reduce the rate of recidivism among formerly incarcerated individuals and increase their employment prospects. However, little empirical research has focused on examining the mechanism that links correctional education with these two outcomes. Moreover, the versatile programs investigated to date make it difficult to distinguish between effective and less effective programs. Using propensity score matching, we compared post-release employment and recidivism among Israeli formerly incarcerated individuals who participated in four different education programs. Findings demonstrated two patterns: participants in the 12th grade and 8th grade programs showed better outcomes in both recidivism and employment than non-participants, whereas participants in the 10th grade and 6th grade programs only showed better employment outcomes. The mediating effect of employment on recidivism in the 12th grade and 8th grade programs demonstrated the dramatic role of employment in the desistance process. Our study suggests that education programs with more direct content or skills linked to employment would increase the overall impact of education on successful reentry.

Desistance from crime and probation supervision: Comparing experiences of English and French probationers

This research compares how English and French desisters experience and perceive probation supervision. In this qualitative study, desisters of both countries were interviewed to collect narratives of change within the context of punishment in the community. The aim of this research was to explore and compare the role of probation in desistance processes, in different national, socio-economic, and criminal justice settings. The findings demonstrate similarities in perceptions of probation officers as people with resources. Differences emerged in the types of resources engaged with and the perceived punitiveness of mandatory supervision.

Offenders’ Narratives on Criminal Desistance While Serving a Prison Sentence

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the early desistance narratives of a sample of 44 male offenders, between 20 and 50 years old, incarcerated in Spain for serious crimes. In particular, two types of the inmates’ stories are evaluated: 1) their narratives of personal change toward a non-criminal life (identity change, perceived self-efficacy and willingness for desistance); 2) their perceptions on those transitional or facilitator factors for desistance available to them (new learning, support and social bonding). Participants’ accounts show how many subjects, despite being still in prison, claim to have experienced favorable changes and have different facilitating factors to abandon their previous criminal life. Despite this, such early narratives of withdrawal are not exempt from ambivalences and contradictions, both between subjects and within subjects. The process of desistance and their contradictions was interpreted, in accordance with the reviewed literature, as a long journey which is often traversed in a circular and zigzagging manner. Finally, it has been discussed how the correctional system should play a major role in facilitating the personal changes and the social support necessary for the ex-offenders’ journey to desistance to be successful.

«Alt er jo egeninnsats» – Kvinners vendepunkter bort fra kriminalitet

AbstractResearch has emphasised the importance of turning points in desistance from crime. The current study investigates turning points in women’s desistance. Turning points from offending were explored through life story interviews with 20 female ex-offenders. The results support an inextricable link between substance use and crime, the former considered by the participants as their main problem, and crime as secondary to this. Agency playing a substantial role is supported in this study. Some regard prison sentences as an opportunity to get away from their current social environment as a pathway out of crime. Examining turning points reveals that the desistance process in many cases can be described as a «long and winding road», with several setbacks along the way. Turning points result from a complex interaction between agent and structure, and are sometimes difficult to delimit clearly in time.

Desistance: A Utopian Perspective

AbstractThe written diaries of 43 adult male respondents from a prison sample that had participated in a restorative justice intervention reveal a nuanced and dynamic process of desistance via their hopes and pains of anticipated desistance at the micro, meso and macro levels. A utopian reading of the respondents’ hopes and pains of desistance is developed which reveals that their diaries express a utopian vision that is not just personal, but also inherently political, radical, collective and transformative. Their pains of desistance on the other hand, reveal a critique and condemnation of the current societal and structural apparatus. The necessity for radical and collective change is clear, if desisters and society are to reach their full potential.

Desistance in Context: Understanding the Effects of Subculture on the Desistance Process During Reintegration

Abstract Despite a growth in desistance research, our understanding of how local external factors may affect the desistance process as people transition from prison to society remains limited. Drawing on qualitative data from two neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland, it is argued that subcultural factors in neighbourhoods can play a key role in influencing desistance during reintegration by shaping the opportunities that individuals have to access, use and sell drugs, their experiences of social integration/exclusion and processes of surveillance and collective efficacy. It is argued that there is a need to better incorporate the effects of local external factors, including subcultural norms and values, into existing desistance theories if we are to fully understand how neighbourhood context can affect desistance during reintegration.

Who owns desistance? A triad of agency enabling social structures in the desistance process

Theories of desistance assert agency is a prerequisite to the process; agency which can be enabled or curtailed by social structures. We present data from six community hub sites that hosted probation services in the UK in 2019. While our analysis identifies agency enabling institutional and relational structures across the different hub governance sub-types in our sample, these were clearest in hubs run in the community by the community. This article contributes a triad of core enabling social structures that operate at the intersection between agency and structure in the desistance process. The significance of our findings is that the ownership question is key to the expedition of enabling social structures.

Assisted Desistance in Formal Settings: A Scoping Review

AbstractCurrent research often relies on measures of recidivism to evaluate the effectiveness of formal criminal justice system interventions. Such studies, however, do not provide information on desistance from crime, that is, on how such interventions can help maintaining abstinence from offending and assist desisters in their efforts to change. This scoping review argues that formal agents (such as probation officers) can play a part in supporting desistance by providing practical help and resources based on desisters’ needs, and can assist in changes in self‐identity through sustained positive feedback and encouragement. We propose a model of assisted desistance to conceptualise the effects of formal agents on desistance processes. The mandatory context of interventions, the fragile balance between legalistic and therapeutic roles, as well as the processes of desistance outside of the criminal justice system are considered. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.

Rethinking social capital in the desistance process: The ‘Artful Dodger’ complex

Social capital has become a core component of our understanding of desistance in recent years. Some of this work, however, seems to present social capital as inherently positive, suggesting that increasing stocks in social capital is fundamental to the desistance process. Knowledge surrounding exactly how social capital is utilized within the desistance process, with the exception of acquiring social capital as a social good, remains underexplored. Through an analysis of the desistance narratives of young adult men serving community orders under the supervision of the probation service in England and Wales, this article argues that, instead of being considered to be inherently good, social capital is perhaps better thought of as value neutral, consisting of both positive and negative aspects (some of which occur simultaneously). Desistance, then, is not simply about obtaining social capital (because many people with convictions possess stocks of social capital that supported their offending); rather it is about reorienting the type of capital available to them at any given time, from relationships that imbue ‘anti-social capital’ to those that imbue ‘pro-social capital’. This distinction has significant theoretical and policy interventions, arguing that it is pro-social capital that the literature makes reference to in terms of supporting desistance efforts. The article concludes by offering some tentative suggestions for future research, along with ways in which this distinction can further support how we operationalize desistance within criminal justice policy and practice.