Growing Up and Out of Crime: Desistance, Maturation and Emerging Adulthood

Growing Up and Out of Crime explores how justice-involved youth desist from crime during a transition to adulthood. It challenges and situates conventional turning points amidst contemporary socio-structural shifts. Building upon theoretical frameworks, empirical evidence, and incorporating justice-involved narratives, Nader dissects the psychological and social concepts which contribute to identity, maturation and desistance during the emerging adulthood stage of the life course. From the outset Nader considers how emerging adults, particularly justice-involved, explore who they are and builds a case for thoughtful reconsideration of desistance and maturation processes. The book develops emerging adulthood theory to offer a rightful contribution to life-course criminology and desistance studies.