ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the different types of snares and pains that await people leaving prisons that were identified based on our research (the narratives of 39 interviewed persistent offenders) and on the academic literature. The snares are mainly structural (they result from the structure of society and the relations between its members) and systemic (they mainly involve the justice system and social welfare in the broad sense). All these factors combined are the reason why the process of desisting from crime will not succeed. And, it should be stressed, we cannot blame the offenders for this while completely ignoring the social environment in which they live. Snares are very difficult to overcome because their sources are often exogenous but have effects on the offender's psyche and on their social relations. The pains, on the other hand, are an additional burden and often result from the presence of the snares—that is to say, from the action of public institutions. But it is a burden that, with sufficient support, the ex-prisoners are able to handle on their way to desist.
