Making Moves Towards Desistance: A Longitudinal Analysis of Agentic Project Pursuit Among Adults Under Community Supervision

• In Event: They Not Like Us (Yet): The Importance of Intersectional Considerations in Reentry

Abstract

Criminologists have established personal agency of convicted individuals as an important mechanism in desistance from offending and substance use. Key gaps remain in understanding how agency is enacted and is adapted to contextual facilitators and constraints during the desistance process. Desistance theorists assert a need for action-oriented perspectives and methods to investigate agentic moves towards desistance over time. Using data from two interviews spanning over the course of six months, this study is a longitudinal qualitative analysis of the agentic efforts 187 adults under probation/parole supervision pursued to desist from illegal behavior and improve their lives. Inductive and deductive coding revealed numerous types of agentic efforts participants prioritized during supervision, as well as influences on these efforts at various levels (i.e., contextual facilitators, challenges) and associated outcomes (i.e., progress, achievement, stagnation). Matrix analysis was conducted to identify potential differences in outcomes by project type, facilitators and barriers at various time points, and intersectional differences in themes (i.e., gender and race group comparisons). Our findings present implications for desistance research and supervision practice by shedding light on shifts in agentic priorities individuals under community supervision pursue over time.

Authors

• Kayla M. Hoskins, Yale University

• Allison Auten, Michigan State University

• Merry Morash, Michigan State University