Offending and Desistance - The importance of social relations

In this book, Beth Weaver examines the role of a co-offending peer group in shaping and influencing offending and desistance and explores the life stories of six Scottish men (in their forties), focusing on three phases of their criminal careers: onset, persistence and desistance. In examining their social relations, Weaver reveals the central role of friendship groups, intimate relationships and families of formation, employment and religious communities. She shows how, for different individuals, these relations triggered reflexive evaluation of their priorities, behaviours and lifestyles, but with differing results.