Examining the process of offender change: the transition to crime desistance

Prior research focusing on crime acquisition and crime desistance has advanced the theoretical understanding of the psychology of crime and overcome many of the practical challenges of crime management. This paper, however, aims to encourage more detailed examination of the process through which offenders transition from crime to desistance. Desistance occurs when external and internal variables align in such a way that an offender with a history of multiple offences ceases all criminal activity. It is argued that systematic examination of behaviour change among offenders will complement current approaches to offender rehabilitation, risk assessment and community supervision. Previous research on crime acquisition, crime desistance and behaviour change are briefly reviewed. In addition, the theoretical assumptions of leading models of rehabilitation are examined. Finally, strategies to further integrate various research findings are discussed and several broad research hypotheses are offered.