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
