Co-authoring desistance narratives: Analysing interactions in groupwork for addressing sexual offending

Research and theory suggest that desistance narratives and pro-social identities are key to the process of desistance from crime. However, little research has examined how desistance narratives and related identities are produced in contexts other than research interviews or how core correctional sk...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCriminology & criminal justice Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 316 - 333
Main Authors Mullins, Eve, Kirkwood, Steve
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2021
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Conversation analysis
Crime
Criminal justice
Discourse analysis
Group work
Narratives
Offending
Sex crimes
Sex offenders
Skills
Social identity
probation
desistance
conversation analysis
narrative
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Summary:Research and theory suggest that desistance narratives and pro-social identities are key to the process of desistance from crime. However, little research has examined how desistance narratives and related identities are produced in contexts other than research interviews or how core correctional skills intersect with the development of these narratives or identities. This study applies discourse analysis and conversation analysis to transcripts of 12 video-recordings of groupwork sessions for addressing sexual offending, examining how desistance narratives and identities are produced, and how practitioner skills and conversational styles intersect with their production. The analysis illustrates how criminal justice practitioners help to co-author desistance narratives through subtle and explicit aspects of interaction, although certain orientations to risk may limit this potential.
ISSN:1748-8958
1748-8966
DOI:10.1177/1748895819863101