BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

12th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology BOOK OF ABSTRACT
TELEMATIC CONTROL IN ThE SpANISh LEGAL SySTEM
ANA ISABEL CEREzO dOMíNGuEz
uNIvERSITy OF MÁLAGA, MÁLAGA, SpAIN
LOREA ARENAS GARCíA
uNIvERSITy OF MÁLAGA, MÁLAGA, SpAIN
One of the most recent elements in current Criminology is the use of the new information and
communication technologies (ICTs) for the social control of crime. There are still no comprehensive
analyses in Spain that involve all aspects of electronic control nor that provide conclusive results
on its use and effectiveness. The purpose of our research is to present a pilot study that analyses
the phenomenon of monitorisation from a descriptive and empirical perspective that enables us
to establish a significant correlation between the use of the new technologies and the effective
prevention of crime. To this end, the methodology employed in the present research combines
field work (collecting data provided by the different competent public organisms in the execution
of telematic control) and a descriptive analysis of its application within the framework of Spanish
Criminal law.
NARRATIvES OF dESISTANCE ANd dESISTANCE
JOSé CId
uNIvERSITAT AuTòNOMA BARCELONA, BELLATERRA (CERdANyOLA dEL
vALLèS), SpAIN
JOEL MARTí
uNIvERSITAT AuTòNOMA BARCELONA, BELLATERRA (CERdANyOLA dEL
vALLèS), SpAIN
This research follows a former study that started in 2010, on the reasons that explain the emergence
of narratives of desistance and persistence among prisoners interviewed at the end of serving
their sentences. In this previous research we found that desistance narratives emerged from
turning points or what we call “returning points” as catalysis of a process of personal change.
The present research is based on a second interview to approximately 50% of the 67 persons
interviewed in 2010. These former imprisoned persons have been followed for a two years period
after the end of their sentence. Our hypothesis is that their narratives at the end of the sentence
are relevant to explain desistance (defined, following Maruna, 2001, as a long-term abstinence
from crime). The results of the analysis are generally supportive of this explanation: ex-prisoners
with a narrative of desistance have generally consolidated their desistance and on the contrary
those with a narrative of persistence have reoffended during the follow-up period. However,
three results of the analysis deserve special attention: (i) persons with a narrative of desistance
that have changed to narratives of persistence when the inter-subjective factors that explained the
emergence of desistance narratives have changed; (ii) persons with a narrative of desistance that
have also been transformed to narratives of persistence due to the impossibility of overcoming
his drug-addiction and (iii) persons with a narrative of persistence that have built a narrative that
breaks with crime as a life option but without projecting a conventional life. The implications of
these findings for the theory of desistance will be discussed in this presentation.
puNIShMENT & ITS ALTERNATIvES
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