The processes of early desistance for persistent male offenders in their early 20s

• In Event: Desistance from Crime: New Evidence and Theorising from the UK

Abstract

There is continuing lively discussion as to the extent of the influence of agency and of structural factors in early desistance from crime among persistent offenders in their 20s and 30s. Though it is now clear that desistance is most often a process, rather than a one-off event, there is dispute about the timing of different elements and about whether agency and structural change are each necessary and in which order (the 'chicken and egg' question of LeBel et al. 2008). The paper will re-examine the model of desistance set out in Bottoms et al. (2004), using new data from the Sheffield Desistance Study of male persistent offenders and other recent longitudinal studies, to examine critically how solid the empirical support is for elements of the model. It will in particular consider the nature of initial agentic decisions, uneven progress towards desistance, the extent to which turning points are experienced whilst desisting, and interactions between subjective and social elements.

Authors

• Joanna Shapland, University of Sheffield

• Tony Bottoms, University of Cambridge / University of Sheffield