Early attempts at desistance from crime: Prisoners’ prerelease expectations and their postrelease criminal behavior

Abstract

Recent attention has been paid to the role of a positive outlook in early stages of the desistance process. The aim of this article is to examine prisoners’ own expectations regarding future offending before they are released, and why these expectations come true or not after their release from prison. Longitudinal data were used from in-depth interviews with 24 prisoners who were interviewed at the end of their sentence and three months after release about their future outlook on criminal activities, social capital and agency factors, and current criminal activities. Findings suggest a strong connection between criminal and non-criminal expectations and post-release criminal behavior.