ABSTRACT
In this final chapter, the findings that emerged from the analyses in this study are brought together. There is a discussion on how variances between English and French findings link to factors specific to each context and setting. The chapter reiterates the state of the literature on desistance from crime, to locate the study and justify the necessity of this research. In doing so, the gap in the knowledge on comparative approaches is highlighted. After this, the key findings of this study are laid out. The chapter presents typical journeys of offending and desistance in English and French contexts, drawn from the results of the analyses. The findings are further interpreted, alongside results from the ESS analysis, and two main distinctions are formulated regarding desistance in England and France: on the one hand, narratives of change tend to involve desisters looking inwards for English men, in terms of identifying problems and solutions related to offending, and outwards for the French cohort. On the other hand, the different pathways of desistance tend to involve conformity in the French context, and self-preservation in the English one. Concluding thoughts are presented on the necessity of international research on desistance from crime. Finally, the chapter, and the book, ends by arguing for more comparative research on desistance to better discern how different factors influence pathways out of crime.
