Abstract
In Everyday Desistance: The Transition to Adulthood Among Formerly Incarcerated Youth, Abrams and Terry provide an engaging contribution to our understanding of desistance from crime among emerging adults. Desistance is important to study when considering reoffending rates, as the majority of detained youth return to the justice system within 2–5 years after release. Thus, if we understand how desistance works for youth, then we can perhaps find ways to “trigger desistance” before being caught in a continual cycle of involvement with the justice system. Using narratives of emerging adults, Abrams and Terry examine “(1) how the process of desistance unfolds for young adults in a particular urban context, (2) specific strategies used to navigate challenges related to desistance, and (3) gender differences in these experiences and navigation tools” (p. 173).
Everyday Desistance details almost 3 years of field research. Their work includes 70 in-depth interviews with 25 formerly incarcerated youth between 18 and 25 years of age, who experienced at least 6 months of incarceration. All participants completed two interviews, while 10 participants completed three or more. More information surrounding the methodology is provided in the appendix.
The book includes nine thematic chapters. Chapter 1, the introduction, sets the stage by discussing juvenile incarceration rates and factors, theoretical perspectives surrounding the desistance process, and the role of gender in desistance. In Chapter 2, “The Road to Juvie,” the authors discuss the environmental context of their work in Los Angeles County. Here, the participants are introduced and individual stories of their pathways into delinquency are provided.
Chapters 3 and 4 focus on experiences within and after the juvenile justice system. In Chapter 3, “Locked Up and Back Again,” the participants’ experiences from entry to exit are discussed, including juvenile detention facilities, continuation school, probation camps, and group homes. Often these youths were rearrested for minor probation violations and became entrapped within the system. Some youth reported good experiences within the system, such as positive influences (caring family members, friends, probation officers, or volunteer mentors). Chapter 4, “And Now I’m an Adult,” details the youths’ experiences following involvement with the juvenile justice system. Abrams and Terry note barriers related to housing and employment through two themes—“making ends meet” and “on the margins.” Some youth struggled to support themselves, while others faced several barriers that impeded their employment prospects.
Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the experiences of the young men. In Chapter 5, “Dangers and Decisions…,” the authors discuss how male youth navigate life after incarceration. Three typologies were discussed, although Abrams and Terry make the point that trajectories are not linear but instead are a zigzag pattern representing the obstacles and setbacks that exist in the desistance process. Some youth felt that changing their appearance was an important part of desistance. Further, in Chapter 6, “You Can Run but You Can’t Hide,” youth discuss “being marked” and difficulty escaping their pasts. Abrams and Terry explored three strategies for dealing with daily risks—avoiding dangers, running and hiding, and calculated risk-taking. Youth also reported their past interactions with the police, including incidents of racial profiling and harassment.
Chapter 7, “Finding a Net to Fall Back On…,” focused on desistance experiences of female youth. The authors discussed how females’ obstacles differed from males’ and the role of relationships in the desistance process. Although females and males had similar struggles with housing, jobs, and economic issues, females did not experience criminal temptations and being marked as the males did. Instead, the females reported struggling with personal safety and economic issues.
Chapters 8 and 9 conclude the book. In Chapter 8, “Everyday Desistance: Theory Meets Reality,” Abrams and Terry summarize their major findings. They discuss how desistance appears for youth, the role of motivation to change, and gender-specific patterns. Further, they did not find one single pathway to desistance but a number of internal and external factors that contributed to desistance. Abrams and Terry found that individual motivation contributed to the desistance process but was not enough alone. In this chapter, the authors state that instead of trying to pinpoint “desisters” and “persisters,” we should focus more on tools that help youth reach desistance goals. In Chapter 9, “Policy and Practice Reforms…,” Abrams and Terry explore the importance of prevention against initial delinquent involvement, and how youth can navigate the pathways of desistance, and specific policies supporting desistance.
A notable limitation to Everyday Desistance is its generalizability. Their study was qualitative, with all participants from the same geographic area. However, Abrams and Terry note in Chapter 9 that their study was not intended to be generalizable but that they purposefully sampled youth whose experiences captured a more typical, nonlinear trajectory of the desistance process.
Everyday Desistance is a well-written, comprehensive examination of formerly incarcerated youth navigating the outside world, while dealing with obstacles and barriers. This book would be well suited for both graduates and undergraduates, as its introduction provides the basic background to the concept of desistance. This book would be appropriate for courses such as criminological theory and juvenile delinquency. Additionally, this book goes beyond criminal justice and applies to those interested in social work and child welfare. Abrams and Terry effectively tie together the importance of understanding desistance and the policy implications surrounding desistance research. They break down the desistance process in a way that is easy for students to grasp, and the book would be insightful and valuable to those interested in working with juveniles. Abrams and Terry note how the current literature and theory “lacks a rich description of the everyday challenges that these young people face, the way they navigate these barriers, and the personal victories they achieve along the way” (p. 8), and they successfully helped fill this gap in the literature through their work—Everyday Desistance.
