This article explores the relationship between the current model of community sex offender management, which is underpinned by mechanism of control and enforcement, and desistance from sexual offending. Utilizing data from qualitative interviews with 20 men convicted of sexual offences, we found that while existing practices offer some reassurance to those managing the public protection arena, they do little to encourage the substantive processes of identity change which is necessary for long-term desistance. This raises important considerations for how current risk management practices may be improved to encourage desistance and community reintegration.
BlagdenNPembertonS (2010) The challenge in conducting qualitative research with convicted sex offenders. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice49(3): 269–281.
2.
BlumsteinACohenJRothJA, et al. (eds) (1986) Criminal Careers and ‘Career Criminals’. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
3.
BottomsAShaplandJCostelloA, et al. (2004) Towards desistance: Theoretical underpinnings for an empirical study. Howard Journal43(4): 368–389.
4.
BowenGA (2008) Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: A research note. Qualitative Research8(1): 137–152.
5.
BraunVClarkeV (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology3(2): 77–101.
6.
BrogdenMHarkinS (2000) Community rules preventing re-offending by child sex abusers: A life history approach. International Journal of the Sociology of Law28: 45–68.
7.
BrownKSpencerJDeakinJ (2007) The reintegration of sex offenders: Barriers and opportunities for employment. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice46(1): 32–42.
8.
BrownS (2005) Treating Sex Offenders: An Introduction to Sex offender Treatment Programs. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
9.
BurmeisterEAitkenL (2012) Sample size: How many is enough?Australian Critical Care25(4): 271–274.
10.
BurrowsJ (2016) Fear and loathing in the community: Sexual offenders and desistance in a climate of risk and ‘extreme othering’. In: RobinsonAHamiltonP (eds) Moving on from Crime and Substance Use: Transforming Identities. Cambridge: Policy Press.
11.
College of Policing (2014) Active risk management system pre-read. London: College of Policing.
12.
CowburnM (2005) Confidentiality and public protection: Ethical dilemmas in qualitative research with adult male sex offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression11(1): 49–63.
13.
DalyK (2000) Revisiting the relationship between retributive and restorative justice. In: StrangHBraithwaiteJ (eds) Restorative Justice: Philosophy and Practice. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
14.
DeeringJ (2011) Probation Practice and the New Penology: Practitioner Reflections. London: Routledge.
15.
De Vries RobbéMMannREMarunaS, et al. (2015) An exploration of protective factors supporting desistance from sexual offending. Sexual Abuse27(1): 16–33.
16.
DigardL (2014) Encoding risk: Probation work and sex offenders’ narrative identities. Punishment and Society16(4): 428–447.
17.
DuffA (1995) Penal communications and the philosophy of punishment. In: TonryMMorrisN (eds) Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
18.
FarmerMMcAlindenAMMarunaS (2015) Understanding desistance from sexual offending: A thematic review of research findings. Probation Journal62(4): 320–335.
19.
FarrallS (2002) Rethinking What Works with Offenders: Probation, Social Context and Desistance from Crime. Cullompton: Willan.
20.
FarrallSSparksS (2006) Introduction: What lies beyond? Problems, prospects and possibilities for life after punishment. Criminology and Criminal Justice6(1): 7–16.
21.
FarrallSHunterBSharpeG, et al. (2014) Criminal Careers in Transition: The Social Context of Desistance from Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
22.
FuschPNessL (2015) Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report20(9): 1408–1416.
23.
GaddDFarrallS (2004) Criminal careers, desistance and subjectivity: Interpreting men’s narratives of change. Theoretical Criminology8(2): 123–156.
24.
GöbbelsSWardTWillisG (2012) An integrative theory of desistance from sex offending. Aggression and Violent Behaviour17: 453–462.
HarrisDA (2014) Desistance from sexual offending: Findings from 21 life history narratives. Journal of Interpersonal Violence29(9): 1554–1578.
27.
HarrisonK (2011) Dangerousness, Risk and the Governance of Serious Sexual and Violent Offenders. London: Routledge.
28.
HealyD (2012) Advise, assist and befriend: Can probation supervision support desistance?Social Policy and Administration46(4): 377–394.
29.
HirschiTGottfredsonM (1983) Age and the explanation of crime. American Journal of Sociology89(3): 552–584.
30.
HudsonB (2002) Restorative justice and gendered violence: Diversion or effective justice?British Journal of Criminology42(3): 616–634.
31.
KazemianL (2007) Desistance from crime: Theoretical, empirical, methodological and policy considerations. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice23(1): 5–27.
32.
KemshallH (2008) Understanding the Community Management of High Risk Offenders. Berkshire: Open University Press.
33.
KewleyS (2017) Policing people with sexual convictions using strengths-based approaches. Journal of Criminal Psychology7(3): 168–182.
34.
KingS (2013) Early desistance narratives: A qualitative analysis of probationers’ transitions towards desistance. Punishment and Society15(2): 147–165.
35.
KruttschnittCUggenCSheltonK (2000) Predictors of desistance among sex offenders: The interaction of formal and informal social controls. Justice Quarterly17(1): 51–87.
36.
LacombeD (2008) Consumed with sex: The treatment of sex offenders in risk society. British Journal of Criminology48(1): 55–74.
37.
LaubJHSampsonRJ (2001) Understanding desistance from crime. Crime and Justice28: 1–69.
38.
LeBelTPBurnettRMarunaS, et al. (2008) The chicken and egg of subjective and social factors in desistance from crime. European Journal of Criminology5(2): 131–159.
39.
LeeRM (1993) Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. London: SAGE.
40.
LevensonJ (2008) Collateral consequences of sex offender residence restrictions. Criminal Justice Studies21: 153–166.
41.
LevensonJTewksburyR (2009) Collateral damage: Family members of registered sex offenders. American Journal of Criminal Justice34: 54–68.
42.
LevinsACreweB (2015) ‘Nobody’s better than you, nobody’s worse than you’: Moral community among prisoners convicted of sexual offences. Punishment and Society17(4): 482–501.
43.
LevrantSCullenFTFultonB, et al. (1999) Reconsidering restorative justice: The corruption of benevolence revisited?Crime and Delinquency45(1): 3–27.
44.
LiemMRichardsonNJ (2014) The role of transformation narratives in desistance among released lifers. Criminal Justice and Behaviour41(6): 692–712.
45.
LussierPGressCL (2014) Community re-entry and the path toward desistance: A quasiexperimental longitudinal study of dynamic factors and community risk. Journal of Criminal Justice42(2): 111–122.
46.
LussierPHarrisDMcAlindenA (2016) Desistance from sexual offending: A policy and research agenda whose time has come. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology60(15): 1711–1716.
47.
McAlindenAM (2006) Managing risk: From regulation to the reintegration of sexual offenders. Criminology and Criminal Justice6(2): 197–218.
48.
McAlindenAM (2009) Employment opportunities and the community reintegration of sex offenders. NIO Research and Statistical Series, report no. 20. Belfast: Northern Ireland Office.
49.
McAlindenAM (2016) The reintegration of sexual offenders. Paper for the 9th Martin Tansey Memorial Lecture, Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development, Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin, April.
50.
McAlindenAMFarmerMMarunaS (2017) Desistance from sexual offending: Do the mainstream theories apply?Criminology and Criminal Justice17(3): 266–283.
51.
McDonaldTWChownELTabbJE, et al. (2013) The impact of volunteering on seniors’ health and quality of life: An assessment of the retired and senior volunteer program. Psychology4(3A): 283–290.
MannNBrownMLundriganS (forthcoming) The national ARMS evaluation: Implementation and barriers to best practice.
54.
MannRECarterAJ (2012) Organising principles for the treatment of sexual offending. In: WischkaBPecherWVan Der BoogaartH (eds) Offender Treatment: Social Therapy, Special Forensic Hospitals, and Indeterminate Imprisonment. Baden-Württemberg: Centaurus Freiburg.
55.
MarshallCRossmanGB (1999) Designing Qualitative Research. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
56.
MarunaS (2001) Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
MustaineETewksburyRStengelKM (2006) Social disorganization and residential locations of registered sex offenders: Is this a collateral consequence?Deviant Behavior27: 329–350.
59.
PaternosterRBushwayS (2009) Desistance and the ‘feared self’: Toward an identity theory of criminal desistance. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology99(4): 1103–1156.
60.
PetrunikMG (2002) Managing unacceptable risk: Sex offenders, community response and social policy in the United States and Canada. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology46(4): 483–511.
61.
ReedP (2017) Punishment beyond incarceration: The negative effects of sex offender registration and restrictions. Journal of Law and Criminal Justice5(2): 16–30.
62.
ReevesCL (2010) A difficult negotiation: Fieldwork relations with gatekeepers. Qualitative Research10(3): 315–331.
63.
RocqueMPosickCPaternosterR (2016) Identities through time: An exploration of identity change as a cause of desistance. Justice Quarterly33(1): 45–72.
64.
RosenthalRRosnowRL (1969) The volunteer subject. In: RosenthalRRosnowRL (eds) Artifact in Behavioral Research. New York: Academic Press, 59–118.
65.
SampsonRJLaubJH (1993) Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points through Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
66.
SampsonRJLaubJH (2003) Life course desisters? Trajectories of crime among delinquent boys followed to age 70. Criminology41: 301–339.
67.
SampsonRJLaubJH (2005) A life course view of the development of crime. Annals of the American Academy602(1): 12–45.
68.
SavolainenJ (2009) Work, family and criminal desistance: Adult social bonds in a Nordic welfare state. British Journal of Criminology49(3): 285–304.
69.
SchweitzerAAkmatovMKindlerF, et al. (2015) The impact of distance and duration of travel on participation rates and participant’s satisfaction: Results from a pilot study at one study centre in Pretest 2 of the German National Cohort. BMJ Open. Available at: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/8/e007461.full.pdf (accessed 15 March 2019).
70.
SimonsLRBarrAB (2014) Shifting perspectives: Cognitive changes mediate the impact of romantic relationships on desistance from crime. Justice Quarterly31(5): 793–821.
71.
SoyerM (2014) The imagination of desistance: A juxtaposition of the construction of incarceration as a turning point and the reality of recidivism. British Journal of Criminology54(1): 91–108.
72.
TewksburyR (2005) Collateral consequences of sex offender registration. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice21(1): 67–81.
73.
ThomasT (2015) Sex Crime, Sex Offending and Society. Oxon: Routledge.
WakelingHWebsterSMannR (2005) Sexual offenders’ treatment experience: A qualitative and quantitative investigation. Journal of Sexual Aggression11(2): 171–186.
76.
WarrM (1998) Life course transitions and desistance from crime. Criminology36(2): 183–216.
77.
WeaverBBarryM (2014) Risky business? Supporting desistance from sexual offending. In: McCartanK (ed.) Responding to Sexual Offending: Perceptions, Risk Management and Public Protection. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
78.
WoodJKemshallHMaguireM, et al. (2007) The operation and experience of Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Home Office online report 12/07.
79.
ZednerL (2009) Fixing the future? The pre-emptive turn in criminal justice. In: BronnitSMcSherryBNorrieA (eds) Regulating Deviance: The Redirection of Criminalisation and the Futures of Criminal Law. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
