ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the prototypical 'desistance' story, which attempts to chart the key features of the journey from crime to desistance. Drawing on participants' reflections on their efforts at reform, it examines the factors and processes involved in the onset and maintenance of change. The chapter focuses on desisters' perceived reasons for giving up crime, the strategies they used to implement change, and the social and psychological effects of desistance. It also examines persisters' explanations for continuing to commit crime and their accounts of previous relapse episodes with a view to providing a more complete picture of pathways to desistance. Strong social bonds help ex-offenders to break free from their criminal pasts because they offer emotional support, the prospect of new social roles and models of pro-social behaviour. External intervention also played a role in desistance. Desisters also began to extend their reach beyond their immediate social networks, by taking up new employment and recreational opportunities.
