Rational choice and criminal social capital as barriers to desistance

• In Event: Factors that Promote or Impede Desistance for Serious, Violent, and Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Early theories on the relationship between rational choice and desistance emphasized the physical toll of crime as the primary causal mechanism influencing changes in levels of offending. More recently, theories have emphasized more nuanced components of rational choice that might better explain desistance, such as the desire to avoid lengthy sentences and the perception that their likelihood of detection for future crimes was high. However, for some offenders high in criminal social capital, the above factors may be less likely to act as a deterrent. The current study used data on adolescents interviewed as part of the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study. Involvement in offending was measured from age 12-28 and semi-parametric group based-modeling (SPGM) was used to identify offending trajectories between ages 12-28. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the impact of criminal social capital as well as real and perceived criminal justice interventions on desistance. Implications for the court’s use of specific deterrence to prevent offending are discussed.

Authors

• Martin Andresen, Simon Fraser University

• Olivia Katherine Ha, Simon Fraser University

• Evan C. McCuish, Simon Fraser University

• Raymond Corrado, Simon Fraser University