RT Article
T1 From desistance narratives to narratives of rehabilitation: Risk-talk in groupwork for addressing sexual offending
JF Criminology & criminal justice
VO 24
IS 2
SP 430
OP 448
A1 Mullins, Eve
A2 Kirkwood, Steve
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1885427727
AB Risk has become a dominant focus in criminal justice practice. While this can improve the effectiveness of practices for reducing offending, it can also stigmatise and create barriers for those attempting to desist from crime. To explore this apparent dilemma, we applied conversation analysis and discursive psychology to examine risk-talk in 12 video-recorded sessions of a groupwork programme for addressing sexual offending. We found both practitioners and clients oriented to notions of risk in their talk. They drew on risk-talk as a resource to construct narratives that support desistance, emphasising awareness of risks, having control, and gaining hope and agency over the future. However, risk-talk was resisted when it challenged the client’s self-presentation. Building on previous empirical and theoretical work on desistance and criminal justice practice, we found it is possible for people to incorporate aspects of risk into their personal narratives in order to weave a narrative of rehabilitation.
K1 Sexual Offending
K1 Risk
K1 Rehabilitation
K1 Desistance
K1 Criminal justice social work/probation
DO 10.1177/17488958221108830