Title: They are searching for the holes in their bodies and souls – desistance from violent Islamic extremism, a qualitative approach.   This essay aims to provide a deeper understanding and insight into why individuals choose to leave violence-promoting Islamist environments. The choice of method has been qualitative. The essay consists of four semi-structured interviews with key informants. The interview material has been transcribed and coded individually by both authors. The study has taken an integrated theoretical approach where the main framework consists of a life course perspective supported by Hirschi’s theory of social bonds, Merton’s theory of strain and Sutherland’s theory of differential associations. The main findings show that possible turning points with regards to desistance related to violence-promoting Islamist environments primarily consists of aspects related to belonging and social contexts. In other words, this essay shows that social relations are an integral part with regards to desistance. The findings closely correspond to those of previous studies within the field. The findings are supported by the study’s theoretical framework where pro-social community interactions strengthen the social bonds to society through differential associations, this in turn leads to a decreased amount of strain. / Uppsatsen syftar till att ge en djupare förståelse och insikt till varför individer väljer att avhålla sig från våldsbejakande islamistiska miljöer. Valet av metod har varit kvalitativt. Uppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkt utgörs av ett integrerat perspektiv innehållande Life Course Theory, Mertons teori om Strain, Hirschis sociala band och Sutherlands differentiella associationer. Uppsatsens underlag består av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med nyckelinformanter. Intervjumaterialet har transkriberats och kodats individuellt av båda författarna. Resultaten visar att vändpunkter i förhållande till utträden från våldsbejakande islamistiska extremistiska grupperingar i huvudsak utgörs av aspekter relaterade till tillhörighet, sammanhang och disillusionment. Resultaten korresponderar väl till tidigare forskning inom området och kan förklaras utifrån uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk, där en pro-social gemenskap skapar sociala band genom differentiella associationer - resultaten därav blir minskade upplevelser av strain.

Growing federal attention to addressing collateral damages of the era of mass conviction and mass incarceration has led to millions in funding allocated to support successful reentry for offenders in contact with the justice system. In line with this initiative, federal agencies have recently turned to criminal desistance research to build on earlier recidivism studies and to inform successful reentry programs. In an effort to contribute to opportunities for future research within the desistance paradigm, this study was designed to explore the identity change process of the offender from deviant to prosocial, a continuously emerging concept within the desistance literature that has received little specific attention to date. The identity theory of desistance was used as the theoretical framework for this study in an effort to advance existing theory while exploring the phenomena of interest. The key research questions guiding inquiry related to understanding the lived experience of identity change as a component of the criminal desistance process, identifying determinants that influence this identity change, and identifying behaviors that support the changing identity. Data were secured using a combination of semi-structured interviews with 6 ex-offenders reportedly 10 or more years beyond desistance, observation around interviewing, and document reviews. Data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive phenomenology approach. Results showed the essence of the experience of identity change through the criminal desistance process involves refining the internal and external world to fit the non-offending working identity. Results of this study advance existing knowledge and theory toward practical, transformative support for offenders on the road to positive reform.

<p>The aim of this study was to examine how individuals who have left a criminal lifestyle may experience their present life. A symbolic interaction approach was the theoretical framework for this research. Qualitative interviews were conducted with seven individuals who have stated having had and left a criminal lifestyle. The results showed that how individuals experience their present life is highly dependent on individuals’ own view of themselves as well as on how others view them. A sense of being judged on the basis of previous lifestyle and a strive to leave the criminal identity could be discerned. There seems to be of importance for individuals to separate themselves from their prior lifestyle, both in thought and action. By doing this, they demonstrate their change both to themselves and their surroundings. By con-demning their previous destructive actions but not themselves as persons, they can maintain a positive self-image. Making good and giving back to society also tends to be of importance. Furthermore the study indicates that individuals, in addition to a sense of belonging, need to experience both resemblance and contrast in interaction in order to fully be able to leave the criminal identity. Some implications for social work practise were discussed.</p>

The aim of this study was to examine how individuals who have left a criminal lifestyle may experience their present life. A symbolic interaction approach was the theoretical framework for this research. Qualitative interviews were conducted with seven individuals who have stated having had and left a criminal lifestyle. The results showed that how individuals experience their present life is highly dependent on individuals’ own view of themselves as well as on how others view them. A sense of being judged on the basis of previous lifestyle and a strive to leave the criminal identity could be discerned. There seems to be of importance for individuals to separate themselves from their prior lifestyle, both in thought and action. By doing this, they demonstrate their change both to themselves and their surroundings. By con-demning their previous destructive actions but not themselves as persons, they can maintain a positive self-image. Making good and giving back to society also tends to be of importance. Furthermore the study indicates that individuals, in addition to a sense of belonging, need to experience both resemblance and contrast in interaction in order to fully be able to leave the criminal identity. Some implications for social work practise were discussed.

The aim of this study was to understand how gang members desist from their gangs and which role authorities have in the process. More specifically the aim was to discover turning points and find out how the former gang members themselves look upon the contact with authorities, for example social services. This study was based on five interviews and two autobiographies with former gang members. The interviews took place in a organisation for former offenders in Sweden and the choice of autobiographies was based on the purpose of this study. As the results showed, the most common turning points was social bonds, fear of prison, disappointment and traumatic events or experiences. Authorities did not have any impact on the decision of leaving the gang. Former gang members also indicated that they had negative experiences with the authorities. Based on the results of this study suggestions for improvement have emerged. Authorities need to have experienced employees, knowledge about gang members, have a flexible work method and a positive approach.

Based on six-years ethnographic research, this thesis provides an in-depth account of a contemporary British drug market. The study follows a group of twenty-five friends, termed The Lads, during their transition from late-adolescence (16-22) through to early adulthood (22-28). This was a critical stage in their life course; it was a time when many had begun advancing into the world of work and business entrepreneurship, in search of their chosen career. Yet it was during this time that two key developments occurred: bulk volumes of illicit drugs became available to The Lads through credit and the UK experienced several years of economic recession and stagnation. The economic constraints The Lads encountered during this time prompted many to become involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs. Though their entry into the markets was not necessarily motivated out of absolute need or poverty, the experience of low-paying salaries, the loss of work and income, and the inability to secure legitimate investment capital, all made drug dealing an alluring source of untaxed revenue, available as and when needed. This study assesses the practices of this cohort of closed-market drug dealers, who capitalised on their expansive social networks as a means of trafficking a variety of illegal substances at the time of these two developments. During the course of the research their involvement came to span several stages of the supply chain, including: mid-level wholesale brokerage, import/export, wholesale, and retail (i.e. to the end-users). The study addresses various structural elements of their trade, including drug purchasing and selling, the assessment and mitigation of risks in relation to law enforcement, and the use of informal credit (i.e. ‘fronting’) as one of the principle facilitating factors of The Lads’ various trade networks. A variety of data collection methods were employed over many years to garner a depth of understanding and appreciation difficult to achieve in the study of active offenders. The data comprises of life narratives, observations, interview data and economic data. The findings offer some new insight into: the kinds of people who deal drugs; what characteristics they share; how they function as traders; what motivates them to either enter or exit the trade, and what social structures influence their offending careers?These young men were not the archetypal drug dealer: they were neither predatory nor territorial. They were ambitious and hard working. Drug dealing was simply a shortcut to the lifestyle they aspired to; it was a source of capital; a means of funding their studies; a ‘means to an end’. To these young men, drug dealing was just another form of work: a bad job that paid a good salary.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka som är de avgörande faktorerna till att individen lämnar den kriminella livsstilen samt upprätthåller den prosociala livsstilen. Studien har använt en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. För att besvara studiens syfte har fem respondenter inkluderats från föreningen KRIS-Kriminellas Revansch I Samhället i Malmö. Alla fem respondenter har suttit i fängelset och haft en tidigare kriminell livsstil. Resultatet påvisade att fyra faktorer var avgörande för att lämna den kriminella livsstilen: avslutande av missbruk, familj, påföljd och hälsa. Där missbruksproblematiken hade en stark koppling till deras kriminalitet. Gällande den prosociala livsstilen menade respondenterna att relationer, förändrat konsekvenstänk, sysselsättning och avslutande av missbruk var drivkraften till upprätthållandet. Avslutningsvis menade respondenterna att det oftast inte finns endast en specifik faktor till avslutandet eller upprätthållandet, utan viljan att förändra sin livsstil måste finnas där. / This study aims to investigate what the crucial factors for an individual leaving the criminal lifestyle and maintaining the prosocial lifestyle are. The study has used a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews. To respond to the purpose of the study, five respondents have been included from the association KRIS-Kriminellas Revansch I Samhället in Malmö. All five respondents have been in prison and had a previous criminal lifestyle. The results showed that there were four crucial factors to leaving the criminal lifestyle: the termination of addiction, family, penalty and health. Where the problem of abuse had a strong connection to their crime. Regarding the prosocial lifestyle respondents argued that relationships, mindfulness of consequences, employment and termination of addiction were the driving force for maintaining a prosocial lifestyle. In conclusion the respondents expressed that there is often not only a specific factor that dictates if one is able to maintain nor end criminal behavior, but instead the will to change lifestyle is what must be prominent.

博士（法学） / 6,215p / 一橋大学

Crime comes in many different forms and can be viewed differently depending on culture, individual factors and geography. This increases the importance of discussing the subject by continually analyzing its causes, to eventually enable the development of methods and means to stop it. This study seeks to contribute to this process by analyzing factors that influence crime but also the ending of it, in the context of social factors. Accordingly, the overall goal of the study is to contribute to broadening the know-how about what influences criminal careers to help in the development of methods to stop them. This is done by analyzing the field from in two approaches; (1) what indicate crimes and (2) what contributes to the ending. This is of great importance today as it will fill a prevailing shortage in previous research which tend to focus on the field in one of the two approaches and often with the same type of participants. To achieve its purpose, the study includes individuals which are young with on-going criminal lifestyles and older which have put their criminal past behind them. Through the study analysis six themes where identified; threat of punishment, drug abuse, family relations, environmental aspects and school. / Brott förekommer i många olika former och betraktas skiftande beroende på kultur, individuella och geografiska faktorer. Brottslighet är dessutom ett eskalerande samhällsproblem som har med sig stora negativa konsekvenser på ekonomisk aktivitet och den psykiska hälsan hos samhällsinvånare. Detta sätter stor vikt på att kontinuerligt diskutera ämnet och analysera orsaker till kriminalitet för att vidareutveckla förebyggande metoder och processer. Denna studie bidrar till denna process genom att analysera faktorer som indikerar brott men också varför respondenter valt att avsluta sina kriminella karriärer, i samband med sociala band teorin. Följaktligen, är det övergripande målet att bidra till att bredda kunskapen om vad som påverkar kriminella karriärer och därav bidra till utvecklingen av metoder för att stoppa dem. Detta utförs genom att analysera studieområdet ur två olika infallsvinklar; (1) vad som skapar brott och (2) vad som stoppar det. Detta ger inte enbart studien samhällsviktig tyngd utan bidrar också till en bristfällig forskning som tenderar att endast fokusera på en infallsvinkel och ofta i datainsamling från samma typ av deltagare. För att uppnå sitt syfte har studien inkluderat individer med pågående kriminell livsstil samt personer vars kriminella karriär ligger bakom dom. Sex teman identifierades under studieanalysen; straffhot, drogmissbruk, familjerelationer, miljöaspekter och skola.

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