Weaver, Beth

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The relational context of desistance

University of Strathclyde Institutional Repository

Strathprints Institutional RepositoryWeaver, Beth (2013) The relational context of desistance. In: PACT evidence event: transformingrehabilitation: transforming relationships, 2013-07-23 - 2013-07-23, London. (Unpublished)Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde.Copyright c© and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authorsand/or other copyright owners. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for anyprofitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or study, educational, ornot-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to Strathprints administrator:mailto:strathprints@strath.ac.ukhttp://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/The relational context of desistance Beth Weaver July 2013 • The dynamics of the relational context of desistance – Recurrent elements of change process – Intimate relationships and families of formation  • The implications for practice and service delivery with individuals and families Overview                   • Life stories of a naturally forming group of men  • Aim:  – to explore the relational contexts in which desistance occurred (or not) – to understand how particular social relations (friends, partners, families etc.) influence offending and desistance  – how individual, relational, cultural and social contexts influence onset, persistence and desistance The Story of the Del      • Relationships are central to human motivation and action – need to mutually and reciprocally relate to other people. • Interpersonal dynamics and effects are only part of the story. • It is that bond that exists between people and the outcomes that emerge as a consequence of being in the relation that is key to understanding effects. • These outcomes are called relational goods i.e. love, trust, loyalty • The desire to maintain these goods emerging from a given relationship motivate and drive human action. Desistance, intimate and  family relationships • Intimate relations and desistance - a partner places constraints on their partner’s behaviour or people change themselves because their partner’s views become more significant than their friends’. • Bit more to it? – Harry disassociated from the Del when the feud broke out. – He was in a significant intimate relationship with Millie  – Despite her exhortations for him to desist, he associated with a new group and continued to offend – although he gave up burglary to limit the shame for Millie. – Millie stood by him even though she disapproved. • Here we see them making reciprocal and collaborative adjustments to maintain relationship • Relationship neither causative or conditional on desistance. Meet Harry… • Fatherhood provided impetus to initiate and sustain changes in his behaviour and lifestyle. • Motivated by potential impact of offending on role and relationship with his son. • Informed by Harry’s values and beliefs about masculinity and good fathering. • Here family as both a constraint on offending and enablement for a new way of living. • Not reducible to effects of individuals on each other – but change emerges as an outcome of the reciprocal orientation of the family to maintain their relationships.  ….then Harry became a Dad • Desistance enabled / constrained by interaction of social relations of friendships, intimate relations, family, faith communities and employment – depending on the meaning of these social relations to the individual. • Their meaning is informed by the individual’s personal priorities, values, aspirations and relational concerns. • Desistance occurs within and through social relations and the reciprocal informal exchanges that take place between family and friends and/or through work & (for some) faith communities • Reciprocity is about mutual helping in context of solidarity / interdependency. • Connecting people to ‘circuits of social reciprocity’ can assist desistance.  Informal social relationships and desistance • Crime and imprisonment can damage relationships and sever natural norms of reciprocity. • Restorative and relation-focussed practices which engage friends and family in the change process. • Transforming rehabilitation – where are the families?  • Families are both the context and medium of change or source of chaos, stress and trauma underpinning offending. Practice implications • Working with and through families:  – Problem-solving family work – Mutual aid based support groups – Parenting education – Relationship counselling  – Family support and mediation.  • Range of techniques to create / build on circuits of social reciprocity between individuals and families using strengths-based, restorative approaches. • Preparation for family re-entry and assistance to encourage naturally occurring processes of mutual support. • Circuits of social reciprocity akin to circles of support model coordinated by practitioners and including, as appropriate, volunteers, key family members and friends. Practice implications ~ 2 • Relational rehabilitation must start at the beginning of a sentence and continue throughout the process of release. • Focus on supporting or building naturally occurring circuits of social reciprocity. • Early and graduated release schemes are key opportunities overlooked by the transforming rehabilitation agenda i.e. HDCs and RoTLs • Need to develop a better understanding of how such opportunities might be utilised to create conditions in which change can occur  –  i.e. combined with restorative and family focussed interventions  Delivery  • Informal social relationships are both context and medium through which change occurs. • Still need to understand better: – The relational dynamics critical to the change process – How we might use these insights to more effectively support individuals and families  – Through what mechanisms they might be most effectively delivered. • Needs to be a much greater commitment at all levels to ensure relationally informed practices are systematically and widely available to individuals and their families. Summing up 

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The relational context of desistance

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