NCJ Number
246294
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2013 Pages: 286-299
Date Published
2013
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Ample evidence exists that offenders eventually terminate their criminal careers, and this holds true for violent offenders.
Abstract
Ample evidence exists that offenders eventually terminate their criminal careers, and this holds true for violent offenders. The causal mechanisms responsible for triggering and maintaining this process remain unclear; meaning that desistance from violence is poorly understood. This comprehensive review of the literature revealed that research in this area is hampered by definitional, operational, and measurement inconsistencies. Several of the conceptual frameworks used to explain desistance from delinquency have not been specifically applied in relation to violence. However, it was found that criminological enquiry suggests that informal social control e.g., stable relationship and employment play a role in desistance from violence and that theoretical frameworks which examine both internal and external change seem to show promise as an aid to understanding the desistance process. Psychological research has tended to focus on the role of risk and protective factors in relation to desistance but this, particularly protective factors, is currently under-researched. More knowledge needs to be assembled about how: 1. the mechanics of protective factors mitigate risk of future violence, and 2. how they play a role in the maintenance of violent free behaviors. Findings from criminology and psychology need to be expanded and integrated to extend our understanding of desistance from violence.