Using Desistance Narratives as a Pedagogical Resource in Criminology Teaching

Abstract

Desistance is the study of pathways out of offending and desistance narratives are expressions of ‘going straight’. This paper explores the impact of using desistance narratives in criminology teaching. A lecture around desistance was delivered and students at an English University completed a questionnaire (n = 82) to establish perceptions of offenders, the UK criminal justice system and the relationship between desistance and peer work, which is one possible “hook for change.” Data was also collected around students’ future employability aspirations in the criminal justice system. Key findings suggest that real-life desistance narratives challenged expectations of the criminology syllabus, humanized offenders and proved effective when delivered by an ex-criminal justice practitioner. The session allowed some students to envisage a future self in the criminal justice system. As future practitioners, criminology graduates need to understand desistance theory and application. Desistance is absent from the Quality Assurance benchmark for criminology in the UK

Keywords:

• Criminology teaching
• desistance
• desistance narratives
• criminology undergraduates
• positionality
• ex-practitioner

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all of the students that took part in this research and also colleagues at the University of Gloucestershire for peer review and support for this article. In addition, I would like to thank Professor Rob Canton and Dr Victoria Knight (both at De Montfort University, Leicester, England) for their constructive feedback and continuous support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Listener scheme is a peer support service which aims to reduce suicide and self-harm in prisons (https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/prisons/listener-scheme/).

2 (60 second subject guide, Guide to studying criminology and Guardian.com education criminology).