Too Much Time...Just Wasted: The Process of Awakening During Incarceration

• In Event: Desistance In and Out of Prison

Abstract

Researchers have pointed out that studies of desistance have largely ignored the changes that occur within individuals serving prison time. Considering the increase in the length of time served over the past several decades, important transformations may occur in the prison context that have implications for theories of desistance. We conducted face-to-face interviews with men recently released from Texas prisons after serving sentences of 10 years or more to explore how they described changes in their behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes during their incarceration. Results suggest that many experience a “process of awakening” that may facilitate desistance.

Authors

• Lynne Vieraitis, University of Texas at Dallas

• Rashaan DeShay, California State University, Stanislaus

• Justine Ashley Medrano, University of Texas at Dallas