Precarious identities: ‘Young’ motherhood, desistance and stigma

2015

Objective Paternoster and Bushway (2009) have recently proposed and developed Paternoster 2012, 2013) an identity theory of desistance (ITD). The current study is an initial attempt to empirically examine the tenability of the ITD by assessing whether self-identity and intentional self-change are critically involved in the desistance process among a sample of serious drug-involved adult criminal offenders. Methods Using arrest data from a sample of released prison inmates with non-trivial drug problems and a modified version of conventional random-effects model, we examine the role of a good or favorable identity and pro-social "agentic moves" (Giordano et al. 2002) in period-to period changes in drug use and arrest from the early 1990s until 2008. Results The effect of good identity on self-reported drug use remained significant even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and other theoretically relevant covariates, whereas its effect on arrest became weaker and statistically non-significant when these covariates were simultaneously considered. Conclusions While we find only partial support for the ITD, we hope our initial effort to assess the feasibility of the ITD can facilitate further theoretical sophistication and tests of a number of other interesting hypotheses that can address many questions left unanswered in the existing desistance literature.

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Within-Individual Change in Arrests in a Sample of Serious Offenders: The Role of Identity

2015

“…Unfortunately, although both discuss the importance of human agency in desistance, there is an unreconciled tension and discrepancy between the main theoretical account of desistance and the role played by human agency. Recent empirical work that relies on the voices of offenders themselves, however, is illuminating the explanatory gaps in these theories [12,59,70,73]. As such, it would appear that the time has come for theoretical reflection within the discipline.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Jennifer also indicated that she had constructed a positive "positive self" and a roadmap to get there: "… now I realized I have to finish my schooling, I have to get a job". Sharpe [70] conducted in-depth interviews with 19 mothers with a non-trivial history of criminal offending. These women revealed how difficult it was for serious offenders to link with good, well-paying jobs and to a person they expressed in vivid terms the stigma they felt they faced in turning their lives around.…”

Section: Recent Empirical Studies Of Desistance: Marriage Employmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Agency and Explanations of Criminal Desistance: Arguments for a Rational Choice Theory

Bushway

et al. 2015

147

159

Extant theoretical work on desistance from crime has emphasized social processes such as involvement in adult social bonds or pro-social relationships, with very little attention given to individual subjective processes such as one's identity. The desistance theories of Sampson and Laub and Giordano seem to have reached the point of consensual acceptance in the field. Theoretical work within the past 5 years, however, have begun to stress the role of identity and human agency in the desistance process including Paternoster and Bushway's (2009) identity theory of desistance (ITD), which offers a rational choice perspective on how offenders quit crime. This paper provides a critical theoretical assessment of both the age-graded informal social control theory of desistance and the theory of cognitive and emotional transformation, illuminating the critical theoretical omissions and empirical inconsistencies in each. We suggest that the apparent consensus in the criminological literature regarding desistance theory may be premature and highlight the advantages provided by theories that emphasize the internal cognitive dimensions of change including the ITD. J Dev Life Course Criminology

“…Breen [20] also reported that these desisting women in her sample changed their preferences as well as their identities and adopted more prosocial values. Similar research was conducted by Sharpe [109], who interviewed 19 mothers, each with nontrivial offending histories. These women revealed how difficult it was for serious offenders to secure well-paying jobs and they vividly expressed the stigma that they perceived while attempting to turn their lives around.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Effects of Age at Prison Release on Women’s Desistance Trajectories: a Mixed-Method Analysis

Kerrison

2016

Purpose The purpose of this study is to measure the effect that age has on women's gendered prisoner reentry experiences and the likelihood of desisting from crime and substance abuse. This study also seeks to evaluate the applicability of Paternoster and Bushway's (2009) Identity Theory of Desistance (ITD) for a contemporary, all-female sample. Methods This mixed-method study makes use of official arrest data for 218 women leaving Delaware prisons in the mid 1990s, to create group-based offending trajectory models. A representative subsample of 118 women was interviewed between 2009 and 2011 and asked to conceptualize the mechanisms that led to their desistance or persistence in offending. Results Multinomial logistic regression analyses reveal that for some of the sample, age at the time of release from prison has a positive effect on the likelihood that women will belong to a desisting trajectory group rather than the most deviant reference group. Interview narratives demonstrate that in navigating the post-incarceration gendered experiences of securing employment, family reunification, and substance abuse recovery, maturity, clarity about one's personal responsibility for linked failures, and a desire to transform one's identity were significant factors that preceded the capacity to excel in those reentry domains. Conclusions These findings lend support for the applicability of ITD for women's desistance experiences. As older women appear to express a reentry goal orientation that diverges from that of their younger counterparts, gender-responsive rehabilitation J Dev Life Course Criminology (2016) agendas must also include programming that increases the likelihood that participants will connect failures sooner so that the prosocial benefits of a healthy identity change can be enjoyed for longer.