ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses an account of some of the core themes in desistance research, first to arguments about the implications of this evidence for penal policy in general, and examines its implications for penal practice. It examines two attempts to 'apply' desistance theory and research in redesigning the prison systems in Northern Ireland and in Scotland. The chapter considers some of the challenges and contradictions that remain for desistance research and for prison reform. In fact, the links between behaviour, identity and belonging are implicit in the main explanatory theories of desistance. Most desistance researchers argue that prisons reflect an inherently problematic context in which to seek to support desistance. The first significant practical attempt to map out the implications of desistance research for the organization of a whole prison system was that of the recent Prisons Review Team (PRT) in Northern Ireland.
