The Criminal Process Of Desistance

Desistance is the process of an individual having the ability to stop committing crime. In order for a criminal to desist from crime, they themselves must want to change and understand fully the circumstances involved. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) people who go through the process of desistance often continue to carry out crime but perhaps get others to do the work for them. Desistance is about the individual being able to remove themselves away from crime completely and being able to maintain that power of remaining out of crime. Issue such as drug abuse, peer pressure and returning to their neighbourhoods where there are high crime rates are challenges the individual might face. (Richards and Jones, 2004). The aim of this essay …show more content…
Smith (2007) states that as the criminal ages their level of committing crime decreases. Research by Maruna (2006) was carried out in the UK with 411 male criminals and found that crime reduced as the criminal became older. Between the ages of 20-25 burglary is at its highest while drug and alcohol abuse is at its highest between 25-30 years of age whereas burglary begins to decline. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi people stop committing crime simply due to the natural aging of the criminal. “Desistance is a natural process for any criminal” Maruna (2001). Laub &Sampson came to the conclusion that age is a factor which leads to desistance for a person. Offenders will eventually “grow out” of criminal behaviour. The key issue for people to desist from crime as young as possible is for the offender to have strong social bonds. Crime is then reduced and is less likely that CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check will be a problem for the offender when looking for employment later on in …show more content…
Laub and Sampson claim that marriage is a factor that leads to desistance. From studies carried out by Laub and Sampson they found that marital attachment increased the possibilities of an offender leading to desistance and reduced criminal behaviour. Marital status is a key factor for the offender to break away from their past and focus more so on the future. The reason why marriage is a key factor that leads to desistance is because the wife will exert informal social control over the husband (Laub and Sampson 2003). Laub and Sampson (2003) express that changes in marital status may not lead to desistance overnight; it does take time to grow and develop. Overtime as the relationship grows stronger the bond will promote desistance. When the offender has a strong connection, they wish to continue this bond, therefore are less likely commit crime. The results of these models revealed that” desistance from crime is facilitated by the development of quality marital bonds and that this influence is gradual and cumulative over time’’ (Laub 1998, p.