Treatment of Sex Offenders

13 Desistance from Crime: Toward an Integrated Conceptualization for Intervention
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Table 13.2 Summary of probable explanatory mechanisms of desistance from crime
Focus
1. Individual factors,
characteristics
and internal
changes
2. External factors,
pressure and
contingencies
3. Developmental
life course
Processes and
mechanism responsible
for desistance Description Key factor
(a) Biological impact
of aging
The biological consequences of aging on the organism, which in turn
impacts participation in a lifestyle conducive to crime
(b) Maturation Age and aging has an indirect impact on offending as a result of
biological, emotional, behavioral, social, and moral development
associated with age
(c) Identity construction To desist from crime, individuals need to develop a coherent and
and scripts prosocial identity for themselves
(a) Deterrence Desistance is the result of a particular decision-making process
whereby the individual come to the conclusion that the costs of
crime outweighs its benefits
(b) Offending
With age and aging, interesting and profitable offending
opportunities opportunities become rare and less attractive. Offenders not adapting
to the changing opportunity structure may chose to desist from crime
(c) Social learning Changing patterns of peer relations and influence participation in
crime and delinquency
(a) Developmental Desistance/persistence are bounded to particular developmental
experiences and developmental trajectories
(b) Life events, life
transitions, and
turning points
Entry into certain social roles such as work, marriage and the
military can help knif-off the past, increase informal social controls
and promote self-identity changes
Aging
Brain maturation
Self-identity change
Cumulative negative impact of
crime participation
Limited access to profitable and
interesting criminal opportunities
Cutting ties with negative social
influences and developing ties with
positive ones
Overcoming exposure to early life
adversities and the consequences
of delinquency participation
Timely access to certain
conventional social roles