In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the interconnections between the concepts of “recovery” and “desistance”. Emerging from different disciplines and with application by different professional bodies, the complexities that feature in both are often reinforced by a philosophical backdrop of “rehabilitation”. This edited collection aims to develop understanding of identity transformation and how internal narratives form part of this process. Its focus is directed to the particular theme in desistance scholarship of identity transformation, suggesting that such considerations may have application more broadly to substance misuse.
“Moving on from crime and substance use: Transforming identities” contributes to recent and emerging work on the ways in which individual experiences are understood through a desistance lens. Much of the book focuses on desistance from crime with interesting reflections from early career through to established researchers about the ways in which processes of change are impacted upon by gender, age, ethnicity and the social and institutional responses to individuals and groups.
Shared interests and concerns around personal change and the centrality of concepts of “identity” are the catalyst for the contributors who present original research in this area, exploring how identity is experienced by: men in prison (Sloan), women (Goodwin), sex offenders (Burrows) and individuals in recovery (Best and Irving). Considerations of age (Robinson), ethnicity (Calverley) and emotions (Hamilton) make up the contributions to the book. Some chapters are more speculative than others, however, the methodological implications of researching identity also feature as a consistent theme throughout, informing plans for future research aimed at understanding more about the factors which impact upon the desistance “journey” and how individual identities are formed and reformed in the process. Theoretically, the book draws upon normative and social identity theories, reflecting on the individual basis of identity making and change, processes of validation and “audiences that matter” – all recent considerations in the field of desistance studies.
The relationship between drugs and crime is referred to at different points although there is limited consideration of how, if at all, recovery from “addiction” is similar to desistance from “crime”; a point which is acknowledged by the editors in the closing chapter of the book. While most chapters focus on desistance, the latter two chapters (Best and Irving) are focussed on recovery in different ways. Best presents the findings of research into the experiences of recovered drug workers with past criminal convictions and explores recovery through the lens of desistance, although providing an opportunity to reflect upon wider literature on recovery and its relevance for the lived experiences of the study participants. Distinctively, Irwin draws upon the application of 12 step programmes and mutual aid to support recovering alcoholics and to explore how recovery is achieved and sustained within Alcoholics Anonymous.
Given the focus on identity, it is unsurprising that most of the analysis is focussed upon individual processes of change. Various chapters extend these explorations to take account of wider groups with acknowledgement of the dimensions of gender and ethnicity, although “power” and its relations are not prominent across all contributions, reflecting much of the desistance literature more broadly. Nevertheless, this book provides insightful research findings which consider how personal change is initiated and sustained in ways that will doubtless be of relevance to practitioners and scholars of desistance.
Although attempts are made to acknowledge wider social structures, the focus is very much on how individuals overcome past experiences and how processes of desistance are supported by a changing sense of identity. There is much mention of “prosocial identities” and the distinction between “offenders and non-offenders” throughout the book; a concept and a binary in need of further critical analysis. In this respect, the focus on identity as a key theme within discourses of desistance leaves the spectre of wider structural forces unchallenged. The focus on identity in the context of personal change requires consideration of narratives of self in relation to “crime” although this ultimately oscillates around what is defined as a crime and what is not. Thus processes of criminalisation are crucial to how the self is understood and responded to within the world. Debates around drug use and decriminalisation of substances have clear implications for exploring how these wider issues are understood in this respect. Although beyond the remit of this edited collection, the book provides a basis for further work which critically engages with these issues.
Margaret Malloch
University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
E-mail: [email protected]