Desistance from crime

Assisted desistance and young offenders in Quebec: what have we learned so far?

Assisted desistance (AD) studies aim to understand how psycho-social rehabilitation specialists can facilitate, accelerate, or support the process of desistance from crime (stopping crimes in order to (re)become a citizen). The DA refers as much to the interventions offered by the actors of the community environment (mentors, ex-offenders, etc.) and those of the penal justice system for adolescents or adults (juvenile probation officers, correctional officers, etc.). The communication will aim to present the findings from three different projects led by the speakers on AD to better understand the consequences of the interventions offered to young people. This first project is called: Youth Reintegration Process and is based on process notes of 396 youth under Conditional Order Sentence. The second, Transcendence collected life stories of 31 young adults who commit (or committed) crimes. And for the third, ReSo 16-35, semi-directed interviews were conducted with 146 young persons that were judicialized. Taken together, these studies highlight the complexity of desistance processes and the obstacles to social (re)integration, in addition to highlighting the importance of mobilizing different sources of social support to optimize the chances of "success" of penal measures and socio-penal interventions.

'(In)Justice and Punishment: The Legacy of Penal Intervention in the Lives of Young Women'

This presentation examines women's experiences of penal intervention from their teenage years to young adulthood, drawing on findings from a British qualitative longitudinal study of criminalised young women's transitions into adulthood. Few studies have examined young people’s experiences of penal supervision and little is known about its longer-term impact on their lives. Moreover, scholars have tended to research youth and criminal justice practice both as somewhat static, and also in isolation from other institutions through which (young) people are simultaneously governed, supported and controlled. Such compartmentalisation serves to fragment experiences which are overlapping and interwoven, and which may be cumulative and enduring. I argue that it is crucial, when considering assisted desistance as well as engagement with criminal justice/penal supervision, to understand penal intervention as part of a broader institutional nexus of governance in the lives of young adults

What do we know about how the CJS can help people desist? International Evidence

Drawing on two reports I was commissioned to write, one for the US National Institute of Justice and the other for the Ministry of Justice for England & Wales, I will outline the programmes being run in various parts of the world (as far as these have been documented). These schemes range in both the location in which they are set (both prison and community settings are represented), and their reliance on criminal justice staff and volunteers. I end by making a series of recommendations for further embedding desistance-focused work in criminal justice systems. These recommendations can be adopted at three levels: things individual staff members can do; things which draw upon wider networks of support, and things which could be done to change the architecture of the criminal justice system in many countries.

Community Supervision on Sex Offenders in South Korea: Punitive Approach

In South Korea, community supervision for sex offenders is more punitive than rehabilitative. As there had been many cases of sex offenders targeting children and adolescents reoffending after serving their sentences in the early 2000s, the public wanted strong surveillance and sanctions against those who had completed their sentences. Therefore, since the mid-2000s, various systems have been introduced for the security measures of sex offenders. With the implementation of the sex offender registration and notification (SORN) in 2005, the employment restriction for sex offenders in 2006, the electronic supervision system in 2008, and the pharmacologic treatments in 2010, reoffending is suppressed through strong management and supervision. This presentation intends to discuss the current status and direction of community supervision on sex offenders in Korea.

Desistance from and Persistence in Male Offending: The Case of South Korea

This presentation introduces the first English language criminal career-based study of desistance among male offenders in South Korea. The study used arrest records from 1998 to 2009, with 3,102 criminal careers traced from adolescence into adulthood. Each offender is classified either a ‘desister’ (74.1%), a ‘potential-desister’ (19.2%) or a ‘persister’ (6.7%). The delinquent histories of eighty-three detainees were surveyed to identify the effect home, employment, and/or friendship stability had upon desistance. The study also compares the 6.7% persisters to the ‘chronic 6%’ and ‘severe 5%’ identified by Western-based studies. And in response to Moffitt’s ‘temporary vs. persistent dual taxonomy’ an alternative ‘desistant vs. persistent tripartite taxonomy’ is proposed. Based upon the findings, several policy suggestions rooted in Laub and Sampson’s ‘situated choice’ view of desistance are proffered.

■ 자료수집

이 연구의 모집단은 1998년도에 전국 소년분류심사원에 입원한 13,515명의 위탁소년

중에서 추출한 3,102명이다. 이들 3,102명에 대해서는 크게 세가지 종류의 자료를 수집,

활용한다. 첫째, 1998년도에 작성된 환경조사 자료이다. 두 번째는 이들의 범죄경력자료

이다. 범죄경력자료는 구치소의 수용기록부를 활용하였다. 그리고 세번째 자료는 이

연구의 실제 연구대상자인 범죄중단자와 범죄지속자를 대상으로 2010년에 실시한

범죄중단 설문조사서이다.

■ 세부 내용

• 환경조사표: 환경조사표의 조사항목은 신상정보 등 일곱개 영역의 82개 문항이다

• 범죄경력: 1998년 1월 1일부터 2009년 12월 31일까지의 범죄경력, 구치소 입출소 자료이므로 주요내용은 “죄명”과 “입소일”,“출소일”, 그리고 “출소사유” 이다.

• 범죄중단 설문조사서: 가정, 직장, 친구관계의 안정성, 생애전환사건 등 여섯 개 분야 총 49개 문항으로 구성되어 있다.