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Desistance from Crime: Toward an Integrated Conceptualization for Intervention

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Treatment of Sex Offenders

Abstract

Until recently, clinical research in the field of sexual violence and abuse has been focused on the description, explanation, and prediction of the propensity to commit a sexual (re-)offense. Longitudinal research, however, has shown that, for the most part, sexual offending patterns are relatively short-lived, transitory, and circumscribed to a particular life stage. Desistance from crime is the norm among sexual offenders, but there is surprisingly little theoretical and empirical research on this matter. The chapter, therefore, presents an overview of the scientific knowledge regarding desistance from general offending and how it can help shedding some light on the issue of desistance from sexual offending. Key theoretical and conceptual issues are presented and discussed in light of findings stemming from prospective longitudinal studies. Of importance, it is argued that desistance from crime is a process that may take different forms across individuals. This process is the result of individual and environmental factors and their successive interactions in a particular sociodevelopmental context. Implications of the understanding desistance from crime among individuals involved in sexual offending are presented and discussed in light of current risk-based criminal justice initiatives and context.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Conversely, intermittent offenders (i.e., active offenders), offenders in the process of desistance, and offenders having completely desisted can be confounded into another misleading category: the non-recidivists. In other words, individuals in a desistance phase may still be involved in crime and continue to have contact with the justice system.

  2. 2.

    Typically, empirical studies having identified risk factors of sexual recidivism are based on only two time-points: (a) Time 1, measurement of the risk factors, only once, often at prison intake (sometimes just prior to parole hearings or prior to prison release); and (b) Time 2, measurement of sexual recidivism at follow-up.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work (Criminology program), Université Laval, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck, 1030, Ave. des Sciences-Humaines, Québec City, QC, Canada, G1V 0A6

    Patrick Lussier Ph.D.

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  1. Patrick Lussier Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Patrick Lussier Ph.D. .

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  1. Pacific Behavioural Assessment, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    D. Richard Laws

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    William O'Donohue

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Lussier, P. (2016). Desistance from Crime: Toward an Integrated Conceptualization for Intervention. In: Laws, D., O'Donohue, W. (eds) Treatment of Sex Offenders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25868-3_13

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