Desistance, Imprisonment and Release Fergus McNeill Professor of Criminology & Social Work Fergus.McNeill@glasgow.ac.uk

Desistance Expanded conceptions of EBP Desistance is a process of personal, human development That takes place in and is shaped by its social and cultural contexts; hence also a social transition That involves movement away from offending (volume, frequency, severity) And movement towards successful social integration, citizenship and participation

Behaviour Identity Belonging Primary (Act) Secondary (Identity) Tertiary (Relational)

Desistance and reciprocity Weaver, 2014 “Those social relations [intimate relationships and family, friendship, faith or work groups] which were most causally influential in the desistance process were characterised by… solidarity and subsidiarity, or in other words, a sense of ‘we-ness’. Put simply, subsidiarity is a way to support and help another person without making him or her passive or dependent... Subsidiarity cannot work without solidarity (which means sharing a responsibility through reciprocity and which implies interdependence). These principles confer mutual responsibilities on each person for supporting change and in taking responsibility for personal change” (Weaver, 2013, p13).

The pains of desistance Nugent and Schinkel (2016) Criminology and Criminal Justice Pains of isolation + Pains of goal failure = Pains of hopelessness

Four forms of reintegration Desistance Personal Re/Integration The re-development of the self Capacity building Social Re/Integration Desistance supporting communities Collective efficacy and reciprocity Judicial Re/Integration Formal de-labeling Certification and ritual Moral Re/Integration Negotiating shared values Building solidarity http://blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance/useful-resources/http//blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance/files/2011/09/McNeill-2012-Four-forms-of-offender-rehabilitation.pdf

Reentry Social positions Individual dispositions Legal rights and status Moral and political standing Social acceptance Individual dispositions Motivations Capacities/Capabilities [Opportunities and networks]

Distant Voices A follow up project to ‘Discovering Desistance’ and ‘The Road from Crime’ (a move to KPU?) http://blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance/ That project highlighted the need to move beyond reforming practice models: The importance of social rehabilitation and civil society engagement DV is an attempt to find a way to turn rehabilitation on its head… In research and in practice

The process Distant Voices 1 (deliberation) Preparatory Workshops leading to 5 songs based on one scenario as the basis for a deliberative public event… and a gig Distant Voices 2 (dialogue) In-prison and community-based sessions Active engagement and dialogue through song-writing High profile public events and extensive print and broadcast media coverage Vox Unbound as a community hub (weekly gathering) Distant Voices 3 (in planning stages)

Pixellated Pictures Farewell my co-pilot, tell me what its like outside I forgotten how it feels to be at home my friend Farewell my co-pilot, I remember what it’s like inside My heart is heavy, lock the door, open your mind, my friend Press pause on this repeating scene Help me remember how to dream Those pixellated pictures I have seen In my imagination So long my co-pilot Drift away into the blue Flying solo ain’t so nice Long lonely nights now without you, my friend

Systems, regimes, relationships Relationships change positions Legal, moral and political Social (multilateral re/integration) Relationships change dispositions Motivations Capacities [Opportunities and networks] The problems of offending and of punishing are relational problems; so are the solutions

Websites Discovering Desistance: http://blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance/ Distant Voices: http://www.voxliminis.co.uk/distant-voices/ Seen and Heard: Music http://www.voxliminis.co.uk/seen-and-heard/ Seen and Heard: Photography http://www.offendersupervision.eu/supervisible Download the ‘Distant Voices – Silent Seconds’ EP by Vox Liminis on iTunes, Spotify, etc… and support the work!