“The desisting pesister”

• In Event: European Developmental and Life-course Criminology Working Group, Panel 2: Qualitative research on criminal careers

Abstract

Several key desistance studies have a comparative research design, comparing a group of 'desisters’ with a group of ‘persisters’ (e.g. Maruna, 2001: Sampson and Laub, 2003). Because this line of research is most interested in understanding ways out of crime, there is a tendency not to devote as much effort to explore the life trajectories of the group of ‘persistent’ offenders. his is understandable, but still a regret at the aggregate level, as we risk losing in depth understanding about the people that Sampson and Laub (2003: 176) call "desisting persisters" (Sampson and Laub, 2003). These are the men and women who have not yet desisted from crime, but are likely to do so in the future. Based on a comparative desistance study in Norway, I will in this paper explore and analyze the life stories of the men and women in my sample who have not yet desisted from crime. The data consists of 47 interviews, 20 of which were conducted with people still engaged in criminal offending. The analysis highlights the relationship between substance abuse and crime (Hall, 2024), the lack of follow-up after release and the lack of opportunities (Nugent and Schinkel, 2016). The majority have a common goal, also from earlier, to stay away from new crimes after being released from prison. But then the good intention crumbles and they atone again. The hope and good intention that they had is lost once more. Not to be gone for good, because the hope and the goal to make is the next time seems to grow stronger despite the lack of goal achievement prior to this point.

Author

• Rune Olsen, Univercity of Agder, Norway