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Journal ArticleDOI

Turning points and returning points: Understanding the role of family ties in the process of desistance

27 Nov 2012-European Journal of Criminology (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 9, Iss: 6, pp 603-620
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the interpersonal factors that explain narratives of desistance among offenders who have been sentenced to prison and study a purposeful age-graded sample of men convicted of acquisitive crimes.
Abstract: The objective of this article is to identify the interpersonal factors that explain narratives of desistance among offenders who have been sentenced to prison. Through narrative interviews, we have studied a purposeful age-graded sample of men convicted of acquisitive crimes. Although the results confirm the leading research of Laub and Sampson (2003) about the importance of social bonds as a change catalyst, they also suggest that changes in narratives may depend not only on participation in new social institutions but also on the new meaning that institutions present during the criminal career of offenders, such as family relationships, may acquire in adulthood.

Summary (4 min read)

Introduction

  • In the present research the authors assume, as a starting point, that desistance narratives are a necessary step in the process of giving up offending behaviour and this enquiry is focused on the social interactions that may favour those narratives.
  • The research is made up of persons who live in a social context which is not common in the principal research (prisoners originally from Spain, the Maghreb, or Latin-America) and some institutions, like family, appear to have a relevance that is rarely mentioned in other desistance studies (but see Bottoms and Shapland 2011; Calverley 2011).
  • In exploring the mechanisms that link the interpersonal relationships with the narratives the authors used a theoretical framework, which integrates social control, strain and learning theories, trying to uncover which of those theories may be more relevant to explain the process of formation of desistance narratives.

Theoretical framework

  • The starting point of the research is based on the work of Maruna (2001) who proposes that the transition from a life of offending behaviour to a conventional life requires a cognitive transformation.
  • This cognitive transformation has two relevant dimensions.
  • On the basis of Maruna´s work the authors define a ‘narrative of desistance’ as one in which a person breaks with past offender identity (identity dimension) and becomes able to fulfil conventional plans (self-efficacy dimension).
  • For Laub and Sampson, these new events that occur in the course of life may imply that the person starts moving from an offending to a conventional life style and that is why they should be called ‘turning points’.
  • The third foundation of the research is based on the findings of a number of researchers which underline the fact that desistance may be affected both by trajectory and by age.

Population and sample

  • The research population reflected the most common features of Catalan incarcerated persons.
  • It consisted of men sentenced for ordinary acquisitive crimes (violent and nonviolent property offences and drug-dealing offences) in close-regime or open-regime institutions, or on parole.
  • The authors added the following variables to the those that formed the initial typology: nationality, social origin, education, work record, drug abuse record and extension of criminal career (see table 1).
  • From the total of 67 interviews, 39 were selected for the present analysis, taking into consideration their correspondence to these typical profiles (although a few cases may differ in a particular characteristic) and in order to obtain a balance between narratives of desistance and persistence in each profile.

Research instruments

  • The authors used the narrative interview to achieve two aims.
  • First, following Maruna (2001), the authors analyzed how interviewees evaluate their lives and construct their narratives (Gadd and Farrall, 2004).
  • Second, following Laub and Sampson (2003), the authors used the interview as a means of obtaining information about past and recent life events of participants, as well as determining the context in which these events took place.
  • This double approach allowed us to analyze both objective and subjective factors related to the formation of narratives of narratives.
  • In order to improve the timing of events in the life course (family, residence, education, job, drug abuse, time served in prison), participants completed an additional life-history calendar (Freedman et al. 1988; Laub and Sampson 2003).

Analysis

  • A thematic content analysis of the interviews was conducted on the basis of pre-defined categories, which were enhanced while the work progressed.
  • Analysis was focused on concretising the mechanisms that link the narratives with the other factors considered in the research.

Results

  • Narratives and interpersonal factors (profile summary) Young offenders.
  • Then they realized that I’m really a person that can be released.
  • Most of this group had an intensive criminal career and had spent a relevant part of their young adulthood in prison.
  • The fact that the participants regretted the lack of support from their families during imprisonment may explain why the motivation to change did not emerge:.
  • They immigrated to Spain and all of them had work records in the years after immigration.

Role of social bonds

  • The research has found two different kinds of social bond that seem to act as a catalyst in the formation of narratives of desistance.
  • The value the participants give to keeping this kind of relationship explains the motivation to make some life changes that are then reflected in narratives.
  • The second bond consists of pre-existing relationships with the nuclear family (parents and siblings) or partners who were not able to prevent participants from offending in the past but now, under new circumstances, these relationships acquired a relevant role in the process of the construction of a narrative of desistance.
  • Returning points are pre-existing rather than new social bonds.

Role of supports

  • The authors have found three main kinds of support: job, family and state welfare.
  • With respect to jobs, most persons with a narrative of desistance have had some periods of job experience since they started their process of change.
  • With respect to the support of the family and partners two situations should be distinguished.
  • Support may be accepted as a temporary help, but it does not contribute to the confidence of the person in reaching his conventional aims.

Role of learning

  • With respect to learning within the context of correctional intervention the research has provided two main findings.
  • Some examples of the positive contribution of correctional intervention are: perceptions of having more skills (education and training programmes); perceptions of increasing their employability (diplomas obtained in prison); perceptions of being able to overcome criminogenic needs (treatment programmes, like the ones focused on drug-addiction); and perceptions of being able to succeed (early release programmes).
  • The second finding is that only those who are previously motivated to change take benefit from participation in these types of programmes and the positive effects are reflected in the narratives.

Role of trajectory and age

  • With respect to trajectory, the inter profiles comparison makes it clear that, in agreement with the theory of cumulative disadvantage (Sampson and Laub 1997), in the late-onset profile, in which there persons have been able to avoid a criminal identity, social supports to overcome obstacles may be enough to build a narrative of desistance.
  • With respect to the role of age, the idea of having an age-graded sample came from the idea that ageing may be a factor that favours a narrative of desistance.
  • The more consistent finding the authors have found in this respect is that “returning points”, based on the new meaning that the family or partner acquires for the persons because of their supporting role during imprisonment, appeared only in the profiles of young-adult and adult offenders, but not in young offenders.
  • This finding suggests that some pathways to narratives of desistance may more easily be activated by more mature persons.

Theoretical remarks

  • According to these authors, ‘… most offenders desist in response to structurally induced turning points that serve as the catalyst for sustaining long-term behavioural change’ (Laub and Sampson 2003: 149).
  • If turning points need be something new in the life-cycle (such as marital relationships, job and military) then returning points, which imply an interaction with an institution already present in the life of the person like family or a partner, should be considered as something different from turning points.
  • The second theoretical question the authors would address is why turning points are the main factor in explaining desistance in Laub and Sampson’s research, while in the present research turning points explain narratives of desistance for young offenders but returning points are more relevant to understand narratives of desistance for young adult and adult offenders.
  • There are two complementary answers to this question.

Limitations

  • Regarding the limitations of the research the authors considered the following as the most relevant.
  • Further research is needed to make causal inferences about them.
  • The second policy implication consists of promoting strategies with imprisoned offenders that favour the emergence of returning points.

Acknowledgments

  • Aina Ibáñez has done very valuable work as a research assistant on the project.
  • The research have also benefited from the work of Anna Meléndez and Ferran Restrepo.
  • The Catalan prison administration (and in particular Miquel A. Esteban), has been extremely helpful during the project.
  • The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers and Shadd Maruna, Fergus McNeill and Daniel Varona for their helpful comments on previous versions of this paper.
  • This author would like to express his gratitude to Professor Anthony Bottoms, with whom all the topics of the paper were discussed.

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1
Turning points and returning points:
Understanding the role of family ties in the process of desistance
José Cid
Criminologia Aplicada a la Penología
Department of Political Science and Public Law
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
e-mail: Josep.Cid@uab.cat
Joel Martí
Centre d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT)
Institut d'Estudis del Treball (IET)
Department of Sociology
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
e-mail: Joel.Marti@uab.cat
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in European Journal of
Criminology, 9(6): 603-620, 2012, by SAGE Publications Ltd.
Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370812453102

2
Turning points and returning points.
Understanding the role of family ties in the process of desistance
Abstract
The objective of this article is to identify the interpersonal factors that explain narratives
of desistance among offenders who have been sentenced to prison. Through narrative
interviews, we have studied a purposeful age-graded sample of men convicted of
acquisitive crimes. Although the results confirm the leading research of Laub and
Sampson (2003) about the importance of social bonds as a change catalyst, they also
suggest that changes in narratives may not only depend on the participation in new
social institutions but also in the new meaning that institutions present during the
criminal career of offenders, like family relationships, may acquire in adulthood.
Key words
narratives of desistance, family, turning points, returning points

3
Introduction
Research on desistance seems to underline two aspects in the process of changing from
a criminal career to a conventional life: a cognitive transformation, which is seen as a
type of identity change (Maruna 2001; Giordano et al. 2002; Laub and Sampson 2003)
and turning points, which are inter-personal relationships that favour a change of life
(Sampson and Laub 1993; Laub and Sampson 2003). Although it seems debatable as to
whether subjective changes come first (Giordano et al. 2002; Lebel et al. 2008) or
turning points that precede agency (Laub and Sampson, 2003), it may be assumed that
both aspects are needed for a successful desistance process (Sampson and Laub 2008).
In the present research we assume, as a starting point, that desistance narratives are a
necessary step in the process of giving up offending behaviour and this enquiry is
focused on the social interactions that may favour those narratives.
When researching social interactions that may favour desistance narratives we
are interested both in the institutions that may promote change (family, marriage or
partnership, parenthood, work, prison) and in the mechanisms that may explain the
relationship between these kinds of interpersonal relations and the desistance narratives.
The research is made up of persons who live in a social context which is not common in
the principal research (prisoners originally from Spain, the Maghreb, or Latin-America)
and some institutions, like family, appear to have a relevance that is rarely mentioned in
other desistance studies (but see Bottoms and Shapland 2011; Calverley 2011). In
exploring the mechanisms that link the interpersonal relationships with the narratives
we used a theoretical framework, which integrates social control, strain and learning
theories, trying to uncover which of those theories may be more relevant to explain the
process of formation of desistance narratives.

4
Theoretical framework
The starting point of the research is based on the work of Maruna (2001) who proposes
that the transition from a life of offending behaviour to a conventional life requires a
cognitive transformation. This cognitive transformation has two relevant dimensions.
On the one hand, the person should change identity and be able to construct a pro-social
self that contradicts their past lifestyle. On the other hand, the person should
demonstrate self-efficacy, the perceived ability to overcome the circumstances that
explained past offending behaviour, and carry out the requirements of conventional life
(Bandura 1977). Maruna’s findings seem very much in agreement with labelling theory:
any process of desistance should be based on a self de-labelling process Self-efficacy
seems necessary in order to confront the obstacles foreseen by labelling theory in order
to change the labels (Lemert 1967). On the basis of Maruna´s work we define a
narrative of desistance as one in which a person breaks with past offender identity
(identity dimension) and becomes able to fulfil conventional plans (self-efficacy
dimension).
The second foundation of the research is based on three main criminological
theories that may explain why offenders build a narrative of desistance. First, we take
into account control theory (Hirschi 1969) and, in particular, the work of Laub and
Sampson (Sampson and Laub 1993; Laub and Sampson 2003), exploring whether the
fact that the person has experienced some adult roles (like marriage, job or the military),
which have reinforced social bonds and bring about a contradiction with offending. For
Laub and Sampson, these new events that occur in the course of life may imply that the
person starts moving from an offending to a conventional life style and that is why they
should be called turning points. Second, we consider strain theory--or social support

5
theory- which states narratives of desistance may be dependent on the support the
person receive from social networks (Cullen and Wright 1997; Wright, Cullen and
Miller 2001). Finally, we focus on learning theory, analysing the acquisition of new
social skills in the course of the correctional intervention (McGuire and Priestley 1995;
McGuire 2002; Andrews and Bonta 2003) and the giving up relationships that favour
offending lifestyles (Warr 1998).
The third foundation of the research is based on the findings of a number of
researchers which underline the fact that desistance may be affected both by trajectory
and by age. With respect to trajectory, the theory of cumulative disadvantage (Sampson
and Laub 1997) shows that the trajectory of persistent offenders tends to be more
problematic than those of desisters in many areas (Shover 1985; Burnett 1992; Sampson
and Laub 1993; Zamble and Quinsey 1997; Farrall 2002; Laub and Sampson 2003;
Bottoms and Shapland 2011). On the other hand, the theories that link age and
desistance (Shover 1985, 1996; Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990; Moffit 1993) point to
ageing as one of the relevant factors that explains desistance (Glaser 1964; Burnett
1992; Zamble and Quinsey 1997; Uggen 2000). Based on this foundation, we produced
an age-graded sample of offenders and to compare persons of similar trajectory.
Method
Population and sample
The research population reflected the most common features of Catalan incarcerated
persons. It consisted of men sentenced for ordinary acquisitive crimes (violent and non-
violent property offences and drug-dealing offences) in close-regime or open-regime

Citations
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TL;DR: This paper emphasized the importance of the transformation narrative, in which the individual has replaced his old, criminal self with a new, law-abiding self Key elements of the trans desistance narrative.
Abstract: Research on desistance emphasizes the importance of the transformation narrative, in which the individual has replaced his old, criminal self with a new, law-abiding self Key elements of the trans

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Cites background or methods from "Turning points and returning points..."

  • ...Following Maruna (2001), we recognize that there is no neat dichotomy of desisters and non-desisters....

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  • ...Following Bottoms et al.’s (2004) sage advice to use the concept “agency” with greater precision, we refer to “agentic” action as voluntary action that can be modified by the actor on request....

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  • ...Second, earlier studies either rely on incarcerated offenders who have not had the ability to “prove” their desistance (e.g., Cid & Marti, 2012; Stevens, 2012) or, for studies relying on released offenders, take for granted what respondents say about desistance (e.g., Appleton, 2010)....

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  • ...…we take the perspective of the individual, while taking into account the social structure within which his or her actions unfold. meThoD Following Cid and Marti (2012), we used the narrative interview to identify how interviewees constructed their narratives and evaluated their lives before,…...

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  • ...DaTa analyses Following content analyses used in previous work (Appleton, 2010; Giordano, Longmore, Schroeder, & Seffrin, 2008), initial data analyses consisted of reading the interview transcripts several times, and then noting connections, associations, and preliminary interpretations....

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Abstract: In this article, we utilize quantitative and qualitative data from the Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering (MFS-IP) to examine couple relationships during men’s reen...

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  • ...…scholarship on postprison relationships has tended to focus on the implications of strong or weak family ties for recidivism (Berg & Huebner, 2010; Cid & Martí, 2012; Markson, Lösel, Souza, & Lanskey, 2015; Mills & Codd, 2008), and relatively little is known about partnerships themselves during…...

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TL;DR: In this paper, the role of social networks and commercial employment providers in helping parolees find work, the perceived value of institutional work and training, and the meanings, challenges, and impact of managing the disclosure of one's criminal past to employers.
Abstract: Finding stable employment has been identified as one of the best predictors of post-release success among prisoners However, offenders face a number of challenges in securing employment when released from prison This article examines processes that shape the abilities and motivations of parolees to secure gainful employment by examining interview data collected from parolees in Queensland, Australia (n = 50) We explore the role of social networks and commercial employment providers in helping parolees find work, the perceived value of institutional work and training, and the meanings, challenges, and impact of managing the disclosure of one's criminal past to employers Findings highlight that the role and influence of employment on a parolee's reintegration is conditional on his or her supportive social networks, ability to manage stigma, and personal changes in identity, which elevate the importance of work in a parolee's life Our findings also show how employment provides opportunities for offenders to self-construct and articulate new identities

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TL;DR: How personal agency can be sustained through participation in higher education post release and the implications for future research on crime avoidance are discussed.
Abstract: The link between education and crime is a topic that requires special attention with respect to the converging influence of individual, social, and environmental factors. This article will investigate the educational pathways followed by students in a higher education program for formerly incarcerated individuals at a large state university in the northeastern United States. Specifically, it will explore the extent to which their postincarceration educational experiences served as a “hook for change” and also related impediments tied to street influences, financial constraints, stigma, academic and social development. Data were collected from a sample of 34 current and former students in the program, each of whom participated in a face-to-face interview. The higher education program played a key role in propelling the desistance process for research participants. This article will discuss how personal agency can be sustained through participation in higher education post release and the implications for f...

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  • ...Considering these elements in isolation would diminish the identification of the influence of life events, which can appear to be subjective and discontinuous in the abstract (Cid & Martí, 2012; Lyngstad & Skardhamar, 2013; Sampson & Laub, 2003)....

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed early desistance narratives of offenders still in prison and whether these narratives differed depending on their personal, criminal, and social characteristics, and found that participants' early narratives towards a non-criminal identity, perceived self-efficacy to desist from crime, and will-to-desist.
Abstract: Priority given to investigating the onset and maintenance of criminal behavior in the past is currently giving way to a new focus on the process of criminal desistance. Early narratives of future desistance are the first step in this process and, although they do not assure withdrawal from crime, they are the beginning of the personal change that precedes a progressive desistance from criminal activity. This study analyzes early desistance narratives of offenders still in prison and whether these narratives differed depending on their personal, criminal, and social characteristics. Participants were 44 imprisoned male offenders, aged between 20 and 50 years old at different stages of their sentence and in three different prison regimes. They were interviewed using Cid and Marti’s protocol and their accounts were accordingly coded in three categories: early narratives towards a non-criminal identity, perceived self-efficacy to desist from crime, and will to desist. The results show that participants’ early desistance narratives vary depending on their personal, criminal, and social variables. Results on the periods of sentence completion and prison regimes are discussed in terms of how prisons could contribute to enhancing the narratives of desistance from crime.

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Cites background or methods from "Turning points and returning points..."

  • ...These three last variables are included in the current study, also in accordance with Cid and Martí (2011, 2012): the reasons for desistance are part of desistance narratives, as well as social support and social bonds, which are transitional factors that enhance and reinforce the creation of this…...

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  • ...…seem to be the first step in a progressive process of desistance (Laub & Sampson, 2001; Maruna, 2001) and, although they do not guarantee withdrawal from crime (Cid & Martí, 2012), they do show the beginning of the personal change needed for the interruption of criminal activity (King, 2013)....

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  • ...Cid and Martí (2012) prefer the term re-turning points because it might not necessarily be a new event which influences the individual in favor of crime desistance, but elements already present in his/her life (family, couple, job, etc.) that may acquire a distinct meaning at a different life stage....

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  • ...Cid and Martí (2011, 2012) consider that reasons for desistance are part of desistance narratives, and that emotional support and social bonds are transitional factors that enhance and reinforce the creation of that narrative....

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  • ...The concept of “desistance narratives” refers to those stories in which people express their rupture (Cid & Martí, 2012; Halsey, 2017; Maruna, 2001; Presser & Sandberg, 2015) or expectations A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 11 February 2019 Accepted 15 April 2019 Keywords: Criminal…...

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References
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TL;DR: An integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment is presented and findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive mode of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes.
Abstract: The present article presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from four principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. The more dependable the experiential sources, the greater are the changes in perceived selfefficacy. A number of factors are identified as influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arising from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. Possible directions for further research are discussed.

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TL;DR: It is suggested that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: a small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence.
Abstract: This chapter suggests that delinquency conceals two distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of one sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating m a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive. There are marked individual differences in the stability of antisocial behavior. The chapter reviews the mysterious relationship between age and antisocial behavior. Some youths who refrain from antisocial behavior may, for some reason, not sense the maturity gap and therefore lack the hypothesized motivation for experimenting with crime.

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Abstract: Preface Part I. Crime: 1. Classical theory and the idea of crime 2. The nature of crime Part II. Criminality: 3. Biological positivism 4. Psychological, economic, and sociological positivism 5. The nature of criminality: low self-control Part II. Applications of the Theory: 6. Criminal events and individual propensities: age, gender, and race 7. The social consequences of low self-control 8. Culture and crime 9. White-collar crime 10. Organization and crime Part IV. Research and Policy: 11. Research design and measurement 12. Implications for public policy Index.

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Frequently Asked Questions (13)
Q1. What are the contributions in this paper?

The objective of this article is to identify the interpersonal factors that explain narratives of desistance among offenders who have been sentenced to prison. Through narrative interviews, the authors have studied a purposeful age-graded sample of men convicted of acquisitive crimes. Although the results confirm the leading research of Laub and Sampson ( 2003 ) about the importance of social bonds as a change catalyst, they also suggest that changes in narratives may not only depend on the participation in new social institutions but also in the new meaning that institutions present during the criminal career of offenders, like family relationships, may acquire in adulthood. 

After the motivation to change occurred, the participants with a narrative ofdesistance enrolled in programmes directed at facing their drug problems and, in some cases, their needs to control impulsivity. 

Some of the participants took part in programmes aimed at overcoming drugaddiction during their present prison sentence and were able to quit drugs, obtain early release, and finish their sentences with a narrative of desistance. 

in the profiles with an early-onset of offending, for the construction of a narrative of desistance a more intense number of factors and socials bonds as a catalyst of change seems needed. 

It seems then that the job experience, at least for persons able to work, was a necessary element in the construction of a narrative of desistance, and in particular in the perception of selfefficacy. 

Ourparticipants with a narrative of desistance underlined that their families and partners were proud of their efforts to change. 

From a pre-analysis of these interviews, a typology with 4 profiles of offenders was constructed using two criteria: onset of offending and age at release. 

the authors have decided to maintain the contrast among those three profiles for the following reasons: first, only in the profile of young offenders have the authors found the relevance of turning points and, second, in theIn the second stage, 20 additional interviews were done, focusing on thoseprofiles and narratives less present in the first stage, in order to obtain a sufficient variety of narratives (desistance and persistence) within each of the 4 profiles. 

A thematic content analysis of the interviews was conducted on the basis of pre-defined categories, which were enhanced while the work progressed. 

Similar to other resources that can be mobilized by participants, learning produced within the context of correctional intervention is not catalyst of change but it is a fundamental element in the building narratives of change. 

For Laub and Sampson, these new events that occur in the course of life may imply that the person starts moving from an offending to a conventional life style and that is why they should be called ‘turning points’. 

Although these persons considered that rehabilitation is something that they should be given credit for, not the correctional system, the narratives illustrate that the opportunities given by the correctional system increased their feelings of self-efficacy: 

In order to improve the timing of events in the life course (family, residence, education, job, drug abuse, time served in prison), participants completed an additional life-history calendar (Freedman et al.