Different pathways for different journeys: Ethnicity, identity transition and desistance

Calverley, Adam

Abstract

This chapter argues that the processes of adopting viable non-offending identities are as important in the desistance of minority ethnic offenders as they are for offenders who are white. However, differences in structural location and cultural expectations and practices mean that the forms of pro-social identity that are accessible and available vary. The author examines the ways Black and dual heritage and South Asian male desisters invest in available discourses of masculinity which are shaped by ethnicity (Gadd and Farrall, 2004) and how this process of identity re-construction provides a means of transitioning from an offender to a non-offender identity. The author then pinpoints the ways that identity is racialised and reviews the effects this has on desistance and the different strategies employed to deal with challenges imposed by racism.

Citation

Calverley, A. (2016). Different pathways for different journeys: Ethnicity, identity transition and desistance. In A. Robinson, & P. Hamilton (Eds.), Moving on from Crime and Substance Use: Transforming Identities (121-152). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447324676.003.0007

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 15, 2021
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Pages: 121-152
• Book Title: Moving on from Crime and Substance Use: Transforming Identities
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 9781447324676 9781447324683
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447324676.003.0007
• Keywords: Ethnicity; Desistance; Masculinity; Identity; Offender
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3568046