In this paper we outline our current thinking on the processes associated with desistance from crime. This work, conducted as part of the theoretical apparatus of a fifth sweep of interviews with a cohort of ex-probationers originally interviewed for the first time in the late 1990s-but which, by implication holds lessons for those researching people leaving prisonis an attempt to build an account of the processes which help to shape the speed, nature and direction of an individual's efforts to avoid further offending. In it we develop an account of desistance which draws on thinking about macro-level structures and meso-level influences whilst retaining sufficient room for individual agency. Our account, whilst based on what we have learnt from the previous four sweeps of interviews with this cohort and other studies we have undertaken, nevertheless remains a 'work in progress'. We describe briefly the design and aims of the fifth sweep of interviews towards the end of the article.

This article explores desistance from crime and experiences of stigma amongst 19 young mothers with a criminal past. Drawing on narrative interview data from a qualitative longitudinal study of women criminalised as children, I argue that young mothers with a history of lawbreaking, as well as other markers of a spoiled past, are likely to encounter intense forms of gendered surveillance, social censure and stigma across multiple domains of identity, regardless of whether or not they are currently involved in crime. Motherhood frequently motivated the women to desist from crime, most notably in order to avoid their children experiencing the scrutiny and harmful state interventions that had such a profoundly negative impact on their own young lives. However, I conclude that many ex-offending mothers continue to be stigmatized as maternally deficient long after they have left crime behind.

No abstract

Drawing on recent empirical research, this article discusses youth justice professionals' beliefs about the causes of young women's offending, and examines whether 'moral panics' proclaiming that we are witnessing an explosion in female youth crime and disorder are refl ected in contemporary youth justice discourse. I found disturbing evidence that girls continue to be drawn into the youth justice system for welfare reasons -as a result of the criminalization of domestic disputes or because of concerns about their sexual vulnerability. The widespread cultural belief that girls are getting worse received some support amongst youth justice practitioners and managers, although many professionals expressed confusion as to whether female youthful behaviour has deteriorated or whether girls are subject to more intensive and formalized methods of governance than hitherto. The implications of these fi ndings for the criminalization of girls are discussed.

Attrition represents a significant obstacle to overcome in any longitudinal research project. It is, perhaps, most keenly felt when the data collected are from a qualitative study, since, unlike quantitative longitudinal research, weighting factors cannot be applied to 'correct' for any biases in the achieved sample and even a small number of 'lost' respondents can equate to a large percentage of the original sample. It is perhaps because of qualitative longitudinal research's (QLR) reliance on, generally speaking, smaller samples that few have been able to shed much light on which re-contacting procedures are associated with achieving higher rates of retention. In this article, using data from a fifth sweep of a larger but particularly challenging cohort of 199 former probationers, we explore the strategies which helped us maintain high levels of retention in a QLR study. The article contains many practical suggestions which others planning or undertaking similar studies may find useful.Keywords: qualitative longitudinal research (QLR); retention; follow-up studies Introduction Whilst qualitative longitudinal studies have become popular, there have been few efforts to provide guidance on maintaining contact with cohort members over time. Often this is because samples are small, often non-deviant, and conducted by single researchers; consequently: (a) it is relative easy to keep in contact with sample members since there are few of them, and they have little reason to conceal their identities; and (b) small numbers do not readily enable researchers to distil lessons about 'what worked' in maintaining contact over years or decades. Herein we unpack lessons which may be transferable to other qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) studies. The sample size (n = 199) enables us to make suggestions about 'what works' which other QLR studies have not been able to.We start by reviewing what is known about retention in longitudinal research, before describing our aims and objectives more thoroughly. We then outline the project and present our findings. We conclude with a consideration of ethical matters and suggestions for those undertaking QLR studies. Our aim is to distil lessons about how to most effectively re-trace sample members in QLR research. We begin by outlining QLR studies and what is currently known about maintaining QLR samples.