Structural Turning Points, Fatalistic Beliefs, and Desistance: An Intersectional Approach

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Emerging Scholars In Life-Course Criminology Lightning Talk

Abstract

Age-graded theory of informal social control emphasizes the influence of structural turning points on desistance. Other theorists adopt more cognitive or individualistic approaches to examine how individuals’ subjective states shape decisions to desist (e.g., Giordano et al., 2002, 2007; Maruna, 2001; Paternoster & Bushway, 2009). What remains unclear is how the presence or absence of structural turning points influences the subjective states of individuals. Are individuals who lack access to conventional turning points more likely to experience fatalistic beliefs about their futures? And do these experiences differ by race and gender intersectionality? This developing theoretical framework operates through a teleological approach (Paternoster, 2017), which views behaviors as goal-directed. I suggest that limited access to structural turning points may slowly and gradually shatter hopes for “future selves” or long-term goals of prosocial lifestyles and instead contribute to fatalistic beliefs – the idea that planning is useless and outcomes are beyond one’s control. Together, these fatalistic beliefs and structural disadvantages may reduce commitment to long term prosocial goals and contribute to continued justice involvement.

Author

• Mariah Robles, University of New Haven