Although the term desistance implies leaving something behind, research has shown that desistance from crime is actually about moving towards something; about becoming something else. The criminal justice system, and society in general, however, tends to be backwards looking and offence focussed.
In this video, Dr Ruth Armstrong, a Research Associate at The University of Cambridge, talks about her research into desistance and explains how the criminal justice system itself actually creates one of the biggest barriers to desistance.
Ruth’s research into desistance includes a 2004 PhD describing the role that faith communities played in life after release from a faith-based prison programme. Her fieldwork for this project involved two years in the USA spending time with 48 men before, during and after their release from a faith-based prison programme.
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