NCJ Number
207033
Journal
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 368-389
Date Published
September 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article presents the initial theoretical underpinnings for a study of desistance.
Abstract
In November 2002 the research team began a study on desistance from crime, based at the University of Sheffield. This project was part of a wider Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded Research Network on the Social Contexts of Pathways in Crime (SCOPIC). The overall purpose of SCOPIC is to analyze criminal careers, not only in the traditional context, but taking into account the social contexts of emergence, development, and cessation of criminal careers. The Sheffield desistance study chose to focus on offenders, who at the start of the project were aged 20, had a minimum of two convictions, and were on the books of the probation service. Researchers were trying to prove that even though many criminologists use the term desistance to refer to the cessation of criminal behavior, there is a suggestion that termination should be used rather that desistance. The second area of focus was on whether or not research attention should be focused on secondary desistance. When developing the interactive framework for this study it was important to take into consideration the programmed potential, the structures, the culture and habitus, and the situational contexts of the interviewed population. The study found that as people in their late teens and early twenties mature they discover the need to conform and stray away from offending and transition to their adulthood visions. The ideas of adulthood, and the reflection they cast on their own lifestyles help to affect their change from criminalities to conformities. Researchers do not know yet whether the resulting offending will show a sudden or a gradual trend towards conformity. Researchers suspect that this will be a very gradual process. However, researchers are certain that the person’s social context and their own structure will be key elements on the path to determining their identity. References