Developmental and life course criminology has traditionally focused on the transition from adolescence into adulthood, arguing that certain adulthood roles (i.e., turning points such as marriage, employment, home ownership) facilitate desistance from crime. Cultural and structural shifts to society have altered how and when young people access classical turning points within the life course. Because of these shifts, traditional turning points do not function as previously conceptualized for modern day young adults, including Generation Z. This threatens our understanding of life course criminology and the mechanisms of maturation that facilitate desistance within the transition to adulthood.

This study examines the theoretical role of classical turning points for influencing desistance within the transition to adulthood. Life story interviews were conducted with 40 young adults aged 18-25, approximately two-thirds of whom have histories of justice system involvement such as arrest or incarceration. A coding scheme was developed to facilitate abductive coding, where this scheme was informed by existing research and theory as well as remained open to new and emergent themes in the data. A narrative thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data.

The results indicate that shifts in turning points for justice-involved young adults exist and threaten the applicability of traditional life course and desistance theories created for adolescents of previous generations. Participants in this sample largely did not view themselves as reaching maturity within their own life story narratives. Largely, participant narratives presented active role and identity exploration within this life phase. For justice involved participants, this exploration was viewed as an opportunity to engage in “growing up” – which for them centered around the process of desistance or leaving crime behind to adhere to prosocial adulthood roles. This has major implications for our understanding of the life course within criminology and its applications in research and practice.

ABSTRACT (2024 Thesis submission for Mst. Criminology & Penology, University of Cambridge )
Desistance is defined as a process of transforming identities and acquiring new roles and virtues that support non-offending lifestyle changes. It is commonly conceptualised as an individual journey, fraught with obstacles and relapses. However, interactionist theories have begun to highlight how people’s responses to their social, cultural, and structural contexts shape their abilities to resist offending. This thesis further explores how social relationships and conditioning structures produce barriers to desistance for young adult offenders in Kenya. It presents an interdependent and socially embedded perspective of how agency is mobilised for survival, often to the detriment of desistance, in harsh socio-economic conditions where there is a lack of state support. For this qualitative research study, 14 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a diverse group (by ethnicity and gender) of persistent youth offenders aged 18-34 in Isiolo, Kenya. To increase salience for Kenya’s youth development and crime policies, a wider age range for this transitional status than is commonly used in the West was adopted to reflect Kenya’s definition of youth. Interviews explored structural, relational, situational, and future-oriented barriers that thwarted their ability to desist. Findings revealed the impact of marginalisation and socio-economic disadvantage on young adult’s choices to pursue crime. Their agency was found to be directed towards social and ethical obligations within the young adults’ immediate environment which often conflicted with paths to desistance. Implications for policy and practice suggest the significance of social relations and values as fundamental barriers to desistance within socio-economically disadvantaged African contexts and the need to address this aspect more fully. Variations across gender and age call for more targeted interventions that consider the interdependent nature of youth offenders’ lives and the social and ethical commitments they are struggling to attain.

Recognising the persistently high reoffending rates of those who are criminalised, and the valuable role employment can play in desistance, the UK government has sought to move more criminalised individuals into work, with recent initiatives such as Employment Advisory Boards and Employment Hubs providing employability support to prisoners and creating links between prisons and employers. Yet many of those with a significant criminal history face challenges such as mental illness, substance addictions, housing insecurity and a lack of experience/skills which make sustaining employment extremely difficult. This paper aims to scrutinise and raise awareness of the activities of Work Integrated Social Enterprises (WISE). These organisations seek to address this issue, by offering a ‘supported employment’ model for criminalised individuals, where they will engage in paid employment within the WISE, in an environment which can accommodate for complex needs, whilst also receiving holistic support with the issues that are acting as a barrier to mainstream employment. This paper presents findings from interviews with WISE employees/service users (n=16) and other stakeholders (n=12) from three UK WISE. It demonstrates that WISE can function as an effective ‘stepping stone’ into mainstream employment, allowing employees an extended period of time in a safe, non-judgemental space where they build their confidence, boost mental well-being, and develop the necessary structure and stability in their lives to transition into and sustain mainstream employment. WISE can also act as an alternative permanent employer for those whose circumstances may make a successful transition unlikely or impossible. Furthermore, although more longitudinal research may be required, initial findings indicate that engagement with WISE can function as a ‘hook for change’ for desistance and serve as the basis for the formation of a more ‘pro-social’ identity. A strong case can be made therefore for further research in this area, as well as promoting awareness amongst policy makers that focusing solely on helping criminalised individuals to obtain work risks ‘setting them up to fail’, and the importance of supporting the activities of organisations such as WISE which assist criminalised individuals to sustain employment.

Young people’s understandings and experiences of ‘family’ has largely been ignored in research that concerns them. This article reports the findings from research that was generated in collaboration with young people who have offended to understand how they conceptualise the term ‘family’. Findings suggest that the young people place more emphasis on the emotional aspects of ‘family life’ than on the presence of specific family members. The focus group discussions centered around the importance of love, trust and safety in determining who should be considered ‘family’. The language used by the young people was based on their lived experiences of ‘family’ and ‘family life’ which for some of the young people was significantly affected by their time spent in the care system