ABSTRACT
Chapter 8 presents the eight distinctive features of a desistance narrative among prisoners. These include the ability and willingness to cope with suffering and adversity, a heightened sense of responsibility in causing harm, a shift to an identity of a deserving being, a separation of past behaviors and self-identity, a foundation for change that relies on oneself, the belief that the timing of the change process is anchored in the present, a separation from one’s thoughts, and a shifting attitude about opportunities for change and for offending.
