ABSTRACT
In contrast to the widespread (and, rightly, controversial) public and academic focus on ethnicity in relation to engagement in offending, existing research has largely overlooked whether processes associated with desistance from crime vary by ethnicity. This is despite known ethnic differences in factors frequently identifi ed as affecting disengagement from offending, such as employment, place of residence, religious affi liation and family structure, suggesting good reasons for believing differences may exist. This relative neglect of ethnicity as a potentially important factor in the desistance process has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, the leading researchers in this fi eld, Laub and Sampson, have speculated:
We expect that variations by race, ethnicity and structural context in promoting successful transitions to young adulthood will have effects on the desistance process. We know that rates of marriage and employment vary by race and social class. We also know neighbourhood contexts vary as well, and it is expected that these neighbourhood differences will interact with individual differences to increase the probability of crime and violence. But exactly how these interactions between person and context affect the desistance process is the key research question.
