Is desistance hopeless?

Offending behaviours don’t just stop and there are a number of processes that an individual goes through.  To go through this difficult process it requires a great deal of self belief, which is more difficult if not impossible when those around them believe that they will fail (Maruna and Le Bel, 2010).  Hope has been found to be an important factor in desistance, both in terms of self belief and the belief from others.

High risk of serious harm and desistance

I’ve been speaking to people in a variety of roles in the Criminal Justice System and also with partner groups who work with people who have committed offences.  The reaction to the desistance theories and desistance informed practices has been met at times with hesitation for how it can be incorporated into some aspects of their work.  In particular concerns have been raised into how this can be implemented in working with individuals who pose a high risk of serious harm, in particular those with convictions for sexual offences or domestic abuse. 

How to frustrate desistance

Last week I was running a workshop to provide some information about desistance and how it relates to criminal justice.  This was a multi-agency forum with members of Integrated Offender Management (IOM), Bristol IMPACT.  Part of the workshop was discussing how desistance could be supported by criminal justice agencies.  I have received quite a bit of feedback stating that desistance research isn’t new and this is how, in particular Probation, has been approaching rehabilitation for years.  This could be argued to be the case, but what the desistance research does is that it builds on the existing research and practices in order to support and accelerate the process. 

Does "Transforming Rehabilitation" have room for desistance?

The Transforming Rehabilitation: A revolution in the way we manage offenders (see link), consultation document has given many of us interested in this area much to think about. 

New Year's Resolutions - Thoughts on guilt and shame

This time of year makes me think about my many broken New Year’s resolutions;  I’m going to eat more healthily, exercise more, be more organised, recycle thoroughly and  iron more than one change of clothes at a time etc etc.  If I last more than a few days then I consider that I’ve done well.  The broken resolutions aren’t really that significant to me (because I know I’ll break them anyway) and don’t really have an adverse impact on my life.  However, for individuals who are embarking on making the internal and external changes in order to move away from offending behaviour, the impact can be great

What narratives tell us about desistance

 I’ve been speaking with service users who are desisting, to try to understand why there are changes. 

What's Different this Time? - Trigger Events

On a number of occasions the individuals I’m speaking with have previously said, maybe repeatedly, that they have had enough and they are going to stop offending.  However they’ve not previously managed to do this, resulting in further convictions and/or imprisonment.  Although motivation can increase the likelihood of desisting (Farrall, 2002), it’s not as straight forward as simply wanting to stop offending.

So what reasons do people give for “why” they want to stop offending, this time?