What narratives tell us about desistance

 I’ve been speaking with service users who are desisting, to try to understand why there are changes. 
The focus has been on those people who have an extensive offending history.

Instead of analysing statistics about changes which could be measured in OASys for instance, the approach of the research is exploring the self narratives of why and how these individuals are desisting.  This includes looking at the subjective accounts of self and identity.  These narratives change throughout their lives and form part of the personal stories and outlooks (Epstein and Erskine, 1983 as cited in Maruna, 2001).  The benefits of exploring the narratives are that it can give more insight into the personal journey that these individuals have made which may provide a deeper understanding rather than just looking at the situational changes.  For a full description of narratives I would recommend reading Shadd Maruna’s “Making Good: How Ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives”, which explores the concepts in relation to the Liverpool Desistance Study.  

The individuals who I’m speaking with are describing considerable changes in how they perceive themselves and the world.  In many they don’t recognise the thought patterns and behaviours of the past; appearing almost alien to them now.  What does appear to be central in their changes, this time, is that they were ready for it, for a number of reasons unique to the individual.  In the past many of the people faced obstacles that contributed to returning to offending behaviour, but this time they have been able to address obstacles more successfully.  As these individuals are moving further away from offending, their confidence to address difficulties is improving and this is contributing to them perceiving themselves more positively and less like “how I was”.

Individuals describe narratives that are different now that they are desisting compared to when they were regularly offending.  In many the different narratives are reinforcing how positive the changes are that they have made, also serving to support motivation to maintain the changes.  These narratives could be supported by workers and therefore support the desistance process.