E-Book Overview
Why do people stop offending? What are the processes they undergo in stopping? What can be done to help more people who have offended put their pasts behind them? The growth of interest in why people stop offending and how they are resettled following punishment has been remarkable. Once a marginal topic in criminology, it is now a central topic of research and theorising amongst those studying criminal careers. This book is both an introduction to research on desistance, and the report on a follow-up of two hundred probationers sentenced to supervision in the late 1990s. The reader is introduced to some of the wider issues and debates surrounding desistance via a consideration of the criminal careers of a group of ex-offenders. This lively engagement with both data and theoretical matters makes the book a useful tool for both academics and students. The book will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and academics studying criminology, criminal justice, sociology, social work, social policy and psychology, as well as trainee probation officers.
E-Book Content
Understanding psycho-crime pb 15/11/05 12:52 pm Page 1 UNDERSTANDING DESISTANCE FROM CRIME Theoretical directions in resettlement and rehabilitation Series editor: Mike Maguire The authors' description of both the high risk lives of many street offenders and the desistance process are spot on. Understanding Desistance from Crime ensures a place for Stephen Farrall and Adam Calverly among the leading investigators and interpreters of criminal careers. Neal Shover, Professor of Sociology, University of Tennessee • Why and how do people stop offending? • What can be done to help more people who have offended put their pasts behind them? The growth of interest in why people stop offending and how they are resettled following punishment has been remarkable. Once a marginal topic in criminology, desistance from crime is now a central topic of research and theorising amongst those studying criminal careers. Understanding Desistance from Crime is an introduction to research on desistance, and a follow-up of two hundred probationers sentenced to supervision in the late 1990s. The reader is introduced to some of the wider issues and debates surrounding desistance via a consideration of the criminal careers of a group of ex-offenders. This book’s lively engagement with both data and theoretical matters makes it a useful tool for academics, students and professionals in the field of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, social work, social policy and psychology. Adam Calverley is based in the School of Criminology, Education, Sociology and Social Work, Keele University and is currently researching ethnic minorities and desistance from crime. He is the co-author of Black and Asian Offenders on Probation (Home Office Research Study, 2004). Cover illustration: Linda Combi Cover design: Barker/Hilsdon ISBN 0-335-21948-9 www.openup.co.uk 9 780335 219483 Understanding desistance from crime Theoretical directions in resettlement and rehabilitation Farrall and Calverley Stephen Farrall is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Criminology, Education, Sociology and Social Work, Keele University. He is the author of Rethinking What Works With Offenders (2002) and has held grants from the Leverhulme Trust and the ESRC. Understanding desistance from crime "In the last decade, criminologists' understanding of desistance has made important progress. In this innovative book, Stephen Farrall and Adam Calverley offer a sound guide to the topic for new students, but also several fresh theoretical insights, based on long-term follow-up interviews with both persisters and desisters. Everyone seriously interested in how offenders stop offending should read