‘Patience, persistence and proportionality’: Probation officer's perspectives of desistance in practice

Desistance from crime is a priority for criminal justice policy and practice yet the term carries varying definitions across research literature. Contemporary discourses promote a refocusing from desistance's representation as an individual's personal journey, to understanding desistance m...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Beck, Peter (Author) ; McGinnis, Emma (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: Probation journal
Year: 2024, Volume: 71, Issue: 2, Pages: 139-158
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Desistance from crime is a priority for criminal justice policy and practice yet the term carries varying definitions across research literature. Contemporary discourses promote a refocusing from desistance's representation as an individual's personal journey, to understanding desistance more akin to a social movement. Research has predominantly focused on the lived experience of those striving to achieve desistance, with practitioner perspectives remaining under researched. This study, conducted post COVID-19, aimed to explore and evaluate how probation officers operationalise desistance in practice. Outcomes evidence that whilst practitioners acknowledge the diverse conceptualisations of desistance, it remains a priority in practice, even where the focus is predominantly risk management. Key practice features emerging as essential to promoting desistance include identifying and cultivating a motivation to change, approaches to forming the supervisory relationship and how practitioner's respond when risks increase. A supporting organisational ethos is critical but challenged in the complex post COVID-19 context.
ISSN:1741-3079
DOI:10.1177/02645505241236780