ABSTRACT
The previous chapters have presented data from the sample and analysed narratives of offending and desistance. These chapters have focused on introspections and the meanings that desisters have attributed to various facets of their lives. The emotional dimensions of desistance were uncovered, which highlighted different existential considerations that motivated change for English and French desisters. The focus in the following chapters is shifted from an internal to an external lens, analysing what desistance ‘looks’ like, in terms of behaviours, social interactions, while still paying attention to how participants perceive and experience these. The present chapter analyses the support that desisting men engaged with. Here, the different sources and types of support that the men used are explored and compared, which contribute to our understanding of the desisters’ social worlds. This allows us to interpret what desistance looks like with the knowledge from previous analytical chapters that provided insight on what change feels like. First, some relevant characteristics of the two samples are reiterated. Then, the role of the men’s social networks in providing support are analysed and compared. Lastly, the chapter explores the role of third-sector organisations, their presence in desisters’ narratives, and analyses the different ways in which these charities have supported desistance.
