The importance of life scripts and identity change in the desistance process has been well documented in recent years. Such scripts involve the construction of a narrative which leads the would-be desister towards a new non-offending identity. Accounts of these subjective changes are frequently regarded in the existent literature as being the culmination of the desistance process -the final phase in the journey away from crime. This article examines the role of narrative and identity change from the perspective of individuals who might be considered to be in the primary desistance phase of the journey away from crime. The article presents findings from a qualitative study of early transitions towards desistance, among a group of males under probation supervision. It is argued that identity reconstruction begins during the early phases of desistance, and recommendations are made in relation to policy and practice.

This article provides a discussion of human agency, conceptualized as a transformative aspect of desistance from crime. It is argued here that existing conceptualizations of agency are vague or underexplored, and that a framework based upon the work of Emirbayer and Mische (1998) offers a more comprehensive overview of the manner in which individuals approach desistance. This follows other recent work (for example, Paternoster and Bushway, 2009), in arguing that desistance involves the envisioning of an alternative future identity, and that this is one aspect of agency in the desistance process. However, it is argued here that the deployment of such agency is conditioned by social context and that this delimits the range of future possibilities available. This is illustrated with two cases as examples from recent research in this area.

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The impact of probation interventions upon processes of desistance has become an area of increased interest in recent years. Much of this research has been focused upon the longer term processes of secondary desistance, often to the relative neglect of processes associated with primary desistance. Some authors have recently begun to examine in closer detail the nature of initial transitions towards desistance, and this article aims to contribute to this area of research by examining the impact of probation interventions on these early transitions. The findings show that experiences of probation can have a positive impact upon these desistance transitions yet, in keeping with much recent research, probation offers little support for the socio-structural aspects of desistance. The article concludes that these structural factors are likely to be dealt with by external agencies, but that even these may not provide the necessary support to facilitate longer term processes of desistance.

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