Assisted Desistance in Formal Settings: A Scoping Review
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Author | MARIE‐PIERRE VILLENEUVE,ISABELLE F.‐DUFOUR,STEPHEN FARRALL |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12396 |
The Howard Journal Vol60 No 1. March 2021 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12396
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 75–100
Assisted Desistance in Formal
Settings: A Scoping Review
MARIE-PIERRE VILLENEUVE, ISABELLE F.-DUFOUR
and STEPHEN FARRALL
Marie-Pierre Villeneuve is Professor, Département de psychoéducation,
Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; Isabelle F.-Dufour is Professor, Programme
de psychoéducation, Université Laval, Canada; Stephen Farrall is Research
Professor, College of Business, Law and the Social Sciences, University of
Derby
Abstract: Current research often relies on measuresof recidivism to evaluate the effective-
ness of formal criminal justice system interventions. Such studies, however,do not provide
information on desistance from crime, that is, on how such interventions can help main-
taining abstinence from offending and assist desisters in their efforts to change. This
scoping review argues that formal agents (such as probation officers) can play a part in
supporting desistance by providing practical help and resources based on desisters’ needs,
and can assist in changes in self-identity through sustained positive feedback and encour-
agement. We propose a model of assisted desistance to conceptualise the effects of formal
agents on desistance processes. The mandatory context of interventions, the fragile bal-
ance between legalistic and therapeutic roles, as well as the processes of desistance outside
of the criminal justice system are considered. Implications for future research,policy, and
practice are discussed.
Keywords: assisted desistance; community supervision; corrections; desistance
from crime; tertiary desistance
Quantitative studies provide evidence-based knowledge on the effective-
ness of interventions in reducing recidivism but ‘little understanding of
how or why a process works for some individuals and not for others’
(Maruna 2015, p.313). How criminal justice system staff and the formal
interventions they undertake work in ‘assisting desistance’ remains largely
unknown, even though they are an integral part of the broader context
within which this process unfolds (Farrall 2003; Maruna 2015; McNeill
2006; Weaver 2016). A better understanding of how ‘it’ works would help
develop innovative approaches anchored in empirical, theoretical, moral
and philosophical imperatives (Maruna 2015; McNeill et al. 2012). Herein
we offer one such understanding. In this article we report on a scoping
review of the ways in which desistance from crime can be supported by
formal agents such as probation staff.
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2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol60 No 1. March 2021
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 75–100
Desistance, Recidivism and Assisted Desistance
The concept of desistance implies abstinence from offending behaviour.
However, its broader meaning marks a distinction with a mere absence of
recidivism. Desistance from crime encompasses a (successful, albeit non-
linear) process during which crime-free gaps lead to cognitive transforma-
tions and identity shifts (that is, primary desistance, Maruna and Farrall
(2004)) coherent with whom the offender wishes to become (for example,
Farrall 2002, 2005; Giordano, Cernkovich and Rudolph 2002; Laub and
Sampson 2003; Maruna 2001; Paternoster and Bushway 2009), and to
secondary desistance, where people who have made significant changes
to their lifestyles can describe themselves as ‘ex-offenders’ (Maruna and
Farrall 2004). This shift towards a new identity has been observed in al-
most all recent studies of desistance (F.-Dufour, Brassard and Martel 2015;
Helfgott et al. 2020; LeBel et al. 2008; Maruna 2001; Na and Paternoster
2019; Paternoster and Bushway 2009; Radcliffe and Hunter 2016; Stevens
2012; Stone 2015), giving it a central role in this process. Nevertheless,
it remains the case that the more entrenched an offending career has
become, the greater the likelihood that the individual wishing to desist will
need to make quite significant changes to their core identity (Farrall 2019,
p.22).
Desistance can be understood as the first step in a journey towards so-
cial inclusion (O’Sullivan, Hart and Healy 2018), that leads to tertiary de-
sistance (McNeill 2016), the resultant sense of belonging to a community
and the recognition by others of the changes made by the would-be de-
sister. Access to opportunities to change and develop is crucial to those
changes (Barry 2006; F.-Dufourand Brassard 2014; Farrall, Shapland and
Bottoms 2010). Structural processes (Farrall 2019) and relational dynamics
(McNeill 2016; Weaver 2016) indicate the social-relational aspects of desis-
tance. Considering desistance as a social-relational process raises questions
about who can help facilitate or hinder the changes initiated by desisters
and how, those processes of desistance are also characterised by ambiva-
lences (Bottoms and Shapland 2011; Healy 2012; Hunter and Farall 2018;
King 2014; Nugent and Schinkel 2016) that can be ‘derailed’ with poorly
adapted interventions (Halsey, Armstrong and Wright 2017, p.1050). As
would-be desisters have, most often than not, been under the control of the
justice system at some point, engaging (and staying engaged) in the jour-
ney towards desistance appears to involve – or benefit from – some form
of assistance (F.-Dufour and Brassard 2014; King 2014; Farrall et al. 2014).
Forms of Assisted Desistance
Informal interventions are usually led by volunteers and attended to on
a voluntary basis (even in prison settings) and can help participants ac-
quire or develop potentialities, skills, and resources, which, in turn, foster
a positive self-image, the development of prosocial networks, and nurture
hope for brighter futures. Informal interventions provide opportunities to
learn from one’s past and to redeem oneself (F.-Dufour, Villeneuve and
Perron 2018). Those volunteers are not tasked with risk management or
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2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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