Desistance and Societies in Comparative Perspective

Dana Segev completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield; MSc at the University of Oxford; and BA at Monash University. She is an independent researcher and her work explores desistance processes across countries and cultures, with the objective of uncovering the impact of contextual factors on individual-level experience. She also co-authored the edited book Positive Criminology.

• 1.Introduction: Exploring experiences and processes of desistance across societies 2.Criminal careers, lessons from comparative studies, and a theoretical approach for comparative cross-national desistance research 3.Cultures, justice, and comparative research in England and Israel 4.Negotiating social (re)integration in criminal justice settings 5.Identity, agency, and the role of social-structural factors 6.Stigma, employment, and leaving crime behind 7.(Un)Interrupted families, romantic relationships and peers 8.Cross-national comparison of time-space budget in England and Israel 9.Concluding thoughts about similarities and differences across societies: A contextual framework for understanding desistance processes and an overview of findings

Shadd Maruna, Professor of CriminologyQueen’s University Belfast"The literature on desistance from crime has gone global in recent decades, but lacks a comparative framework for understanding cultural differences in these socio-cognitive dynamics. With this fascinating cross-cultural analysis, Dana Segev has opened up an exciting and much needed new direction in the field that will become a catalyst for future work of this kind."Fergus McNeillProfessor of Criminology & Social WorkUniversity of Glasgow 'By examining desistance amongst probationers in England and Israel, Dana Segev’s book makes a critically important contribution to the 'coming of age’ of desistance research. Through a careful and compelling elaboration of previously under-developed connections between sociological theory, comparative criminal justice and desistance theories — and via her own empirical work -- Segev helps us understand the socio-structural, cultural and interactional dynamics at play in desistance processes. This book is a must-read for desistance and probation scholars, students and practitioners alike.’David BestProfessor of CriminologyThe University of Derby"Desistance and societies in comparative perspective" extends desistance literature beyond Anglo-European countries to include Israel, uses a comparative lens lacking in much prior work and identifies social/societal factors that differ between locations. Dana writes beautifully and this is a major work for desistance scholars to consider".