Desistance, Maturation, and Emerging Adulthood

Growing Up and Out of Crime details how developmental norms and expectations for young people aged 18-25 have diverged from previous generations, shifting the role of maturation that prompts us to examine if and how this maturation can influence desistance from crime.

Developmental norms and expectations for young people aged 18–25 have diverged from previous generations, creating a new stage in the life course called Emerging Adulthood. Theory surrounding this stage of emerging adulthood emphasizes a delay in achieving turning points into adulthood that are typical of this age group. These delays, in turn, affect how maturation can influence the desistance from crime.

Utilizing evidence from the narratives of justice-involved emerging adults, this book details key turning points for today’s young person trying to desist from crime. Building on evidence from researchers and theorists as well as from the author’s own narrative interviews, this book provides a brief and approachable review of the extant literature, summarizing work across the fields of developmental psychology, sociology, and criminology to provide the reader with an understanding of the maturation of young people in their late teens and 20s before concluding with considerations for policy and practice building from this evidence.

Growing Up and Out of Crime is perfect for students, scholars, and academics who study youth, young adults, and their maturation, deviance, and desistance as well as for practitioners working with young people engaging in desistance.