ABSTRACT
A growing body of international research is increasing knowledge about the complex process of desistance. This chapter uses the Parisian context to contribute to this momentum. Drawing insights from a three-year field study inside the probation services of the French capital during which 33 ex-offenders were interviewed, this research investigates the interactions between institutions and the individual life course out of crime. Focusing on the sequences before the criminal justice system (CJS), during and a short period of time after, a similar pattern prevails: most of the reform process seems to occur away and sometimes in spite of the action of the CJS. This confirms previous studies on the matter and adds a new perspective on some hopes and expectations. When a transfer of networks, skills and other social resources is happening between the ex-offender and the probation officer, it appears to be mainly dependent on the quality of the link created between the two. A specific stand of the probation officer as a resource-bringer then takes place. This forms the basis of a lasting social skills transfer that will contribute to strengthen the process of desistance for ex-offenders who will latter on be more able to acknowledge this support. In the end, this chapter questions the limits and changes in the action of the French CJS that could prove to bring about more support to the process of desistance than it actually does.
