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Palgrave Macmillan

Desistance from Sexual Offending

Narratives of Retirement, Regulation and Recovery

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Danielle Arlanda Harris

    1. Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia

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  • Winner of the Christine M Alder Book Award 2019, awarded by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology
  • Examines the three different categories of desistance from sexual offending: Retirement, Regulation and Recovery
  • Prompts debate about the practical effects of labelling someone as being 'at risk' once released back into the community
  • Encourages a reexamination of the impact of current interventions provided by the criminal justice system

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society (PSRCS)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Part I

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-2
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    2. Introduction

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 3-17

    3. Defining and Deconstructing Desistance

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 19-38

    4. Situating the Sample, Meeting the Men, and Telling Their Stories

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 39-69

  3. Part II

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 71-73
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    2. From What Have They Desisted?

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 75-107

    3. The Experience of Relapse

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 109-134

  4. Part III

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-137
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    2. The Retirement Strategy and the Natural Path to Desistance

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 139-177

    3. Desistance by Regulation

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 179-217

    4. Recovery: The Strategies of Resilience and Rehabilitation

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 219-250

  5. Part IV

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 251-251
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    2. What’s Next?

      • Danielle Arlanda Harris
      Pages 253-268

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 269-287
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Keywords

About this book

This book describes the complex process of desistance from sexual crime as told by 74 men incarcerated for sexual offenses and released back into the community. Unlike much of the research on this topic, Harris places strong emphasis on how men who have committed serious sexual offenses come to stop offending and end their ‘criminal career’. Drawing on in-depth interviews, Harris outlines three main strategies that the men employ in order to pursue offense-free lives. The Retirement Strategy is divided into those who appear to simply ‘resign’ and those who go on to ‘rebuild’ their lives. The Regulation Strategy characterizes desistance as a product of one’s ability to navigate increasingly restrictive legislation (‘restricted,’ ‘rehearsed,’ ‘resistant,’ and ‘reclusive’ desistance). The men who describe their desistance in terms of Recovery do so either through ‘rehabilitation’ or through ‘resilience.’ This original and engaging study will be of great interest not only to academics whostudy sexual aggression but also those who have survived sexual abuse themselves, and anyone working with survivors of sexual abuse, individuals convicted of sexual offenses, their families, and their communities. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Danielle Arlanda Harris

About the author

Danielle Arlanda Harris, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia.

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