Walking Into the Sunset: How Criminal Achivement Shapes the Desistance Process: Criminal Achievement and the Desistance Process

• Date: 01 November 2020
• Published date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854820913316
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2020, Vol. 47, No. 11, November 2020, 1529 –1546.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820913316

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2020 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1529

WALKING INTO THE SUNSET

How Criminal Achivement Shapes

the Desistance Process

SABRINA VIDAL*

FRÉDÉRIC OUELLET*

MARIE-ÈVE DUBOIS*

School of Criminology, Université de Montréal

According to the criminal career paradigm, the link between past and future criminal activities is important and the desistance

process may vary for individuals whose criminal trajectories were punctuated by failure compared with those who achieved

a certain level of success. This study, based on the life narratives of 27 individuals who maintained a state of nonoffending

for more than a year, examines how criminal achievement modulates the desistance process. The aim is to understand whether

criminal achievement acts as a barrier or a facilitator in the desistance process. A short questionnaire based on the life-history

calendar method was used to classify individuals according to the parameters of their criminal careers. Narrative life stories

were then used to look at the obstacles and frustrations encountered during desistance. The results show the relation between

criminal achievement and desistance is complex: success in criminal activities is not always hindering desistance.

Keywords: desistance; criminal achievement; criminal career; narrative life stories; life-history calendar

INTRODUCTION

The link between past and future criminal behavior is well established in criminology

(Farrington, 2003; Paternoster et al., 1997). The influence of past experiences on the struc-

ture of criminal careers and the desistance process has also been studied, but there is still

more to learn about how achievement facilitates or hinders the desistance process. For

instance, one of the experiences that can shape an individual’s decision to continue with

AUTHORS’ NOTE: We would like to thank all the individuals who participated in this study; their life stories

were a great source of motivation. We would also like to thank le Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et

Culture for their financial support. This research was funded via Le Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société

et Culture (FRQSC). Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sabrina Vidal, School of

Criminology, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C

3J7; e-mail: sabrina.vidal@umontreal.ca.

*The three authors contributed equally to the article, reverse alphabetical order was used.

913316CJBXXX10.1177/0093854820913316Criminal Justice and BehaviorVidal et al. /

research-article2020

1530 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

illegal activities is criminal success. Loughran et al. (2012), working with a sample of juve-

nile delinquents, showed that undetected crimes can foster overconfidence, leading to a

lower perception of the risk of arrest and an increase in the amount of crimes committed.

Shover and Thompson (1992) found that individuals who are successful in crime are less

likely to end their criminal careers (see also Charette, 2016; Piliavin et al., 1986).

Furthermore, Ouellet (2019) has shown that variations in criminal achievement (impunity

and income) greatly influence the timing of intermittency in individual trajectories, which

suggests that criminal success (or failure) can affect both the continuity and desistance pro-

cess of a criminal career. However, many theories about the desistance process have failed

to incorporate this concept into their explanations (Ouellet & Bouchard, 2017).

The present study, based on retrospective data collected through life-history calendars

and interviews with individuals involved mainly in lucrative crimes, examines the role of

criminal achievement in the desistance process. Because most crimes are profit-oriented

(Uggen & Thompson, 2003), it is important to look closely at the elements that facilitate or

discourage the desistance of individuals involved in lucrative crimes such as robbery, drug

trafficking, and fraud. The findings from this study can therefore help guide social reinte-

gration efforts.

DESISTANCE

It is becoming increasingly common to understand desistance as part of a process

(Kazemian, 2016). Bushway et al. (2001) discuss desistance as a gradual process rather than

an abrupt transition to a crime-free lifestyle (see also Healy, 2010), and Maruna (2001)

characterizes it as a gradual process that involves both stopping and maintaining abstinence

from crime. The literature on desistance distinguishes three types of explanatory factors

involved in this process: ontogenetic (see Harris, 2017; Hirschi & Gottfredson, 1983),

sociogenic (see Laub et al., 1998; Laub & Sampson, 2003; Sampson & Laub, 1993), and

cognitive.

From the cognitive perspective, desistance occurs after a change in cognition or identity

that leads to a rational decision to end a criminal career (Anderson & McNeill, 2019; Fortin-

Dufour et al., 2015). Paternoster and Bushway (2009) hold that identity change involves an

individual’s cognitive process, whereas Maruna (2001) underlines the role of the narrative

script, arguing that desistance requires the development of a prosocial identity through the

construction of a redemption script that makes it possible to redeem a shameful past as a

prelude to choosing a new and productive life. Fortin-Dufour and Brassard (2014) distin-

guish three processes or types of identity change that lead to desistance: the convert endorses

a new identity that makes it possible to become a good citizen despite his past delinquency,

the remorseful recognizes and repairs the fracture of identity that led to misconduct and

returns to the socially accepted path, and the rescued is saved by a good Samaritan, who

encourages the development of a prosocial identity. Looking more closely at the rational

decision behind desistance, Sampson and Laub’s theory suggests that desistance occurs

when an individual encounters a turning point and makes a “situated choice” to act in accor-

dance with the opportunity to change and bond with society (Laub & Sampson, 2003;

Sampson & Laub, 1993). Traditional rational choice theories (see Becker, 1968) offer a

somewhat less complex premise: people stop committing crimes when the expected conse-

quences of offending outweigh the gain expected from the commission of a crime. On this