A Social Support Theory of Desistance
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A Social Support Theory of Desistance Cecilia Chouhy 1 & Francis T. Cullen 2 & Heejin Lee 2 Received: 10 June 2020 / Revised: 10 June 2020 / Accepted: 12 June 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Purpose Following Cullen’s spirit when setting forth his version of social support theory, this article shows the value of social support as an organizing concept for life-course theory. Specifically, this article describes four different pathways through which social support matters for desistance. First, social support is a constitutive part of adults’ social bonds that operate as resources that make change possible in individuals’ lives. Second, social support can promote and help sustain a cognitive transformation that encourages desistance. Third, socially supportive interventions are better equipped to promote desistance, whereas punishment-oriented interventions (those lacking and undermining social supports) are criminogenic. Finally, social support can help former inmates navigate the many stressors they encounter upon release and contribute to sustaining their desistance. Conclusions This article reaffirms the value of social support as a fundamental factor in the desistance process. A social support theory of desistance could help integrate much of the criminological research on desistance. Furthermore, putting social support at the center of the discussion of the desistance process would help consolidate a policy agenda that not only reaffirms rehabilitation but also promotes a broader set of policies aimed at constructing a more fair and supportive society. In doing so, it will move the debate away from individuals and make governmental institutions and society as a whole acknowledge their responsibility in the crime problem and their role in promoting desistance. Keywords Social support . Desistance . Social bonds . Cognitive transformation .
Rehabilitation . Re-entry
* Cecilia Chouhy [email protected]
1
College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
2
School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
C. Chouhy et al.
Theories of desistance have often emphasized the role of adult social bonds (or “hooks for change”) and positive cognitions (or “narrative identities”) in fostering desistance. At the same time, correctional scholarship has emphasized how recidivism is increased by incarceration and post-release exclusion and decreased by quality interventions and inclusionary policies. Finally, general strain theory and research from the sociological stress process suggest that social support is integral to coping with negative life experience and achieving change. In this paper, we show how these pathways that promote or prevent desistance are linked together by a common feature: the presence or absence of social support. For example, the support inherent in quality marriages and jobs deepens attachments and commitments and makes informal social control salient. Social support can also heighten belief in redemption scri
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