Off the Hook? The “Loosening” and “Slipping” in the Context of Frustrated Desistance

Expanding on the largely omitted concept "frustrated desistance," the paper approaches desistance as an ambiguous, non-linear and contradictory experience. Qualitative interviews conducted with case managers and participants of a voluntary Swedish desistance and gang defector program were analyzed to add nuance to desistance derailment in an offender rehabilitative setting. While ostensibly a "hook for change," the program struggled to provide appropriate assistance. Rather than facilitating desistance, various contrarian (and occasionally contradictory) institutional practices were found to undermine such efforts, subverting the very notion of a hook. When torn between conflicting motivations, treatment engagement is disincentivized rather than encouraged, creating dissonance and turmoil. Placed against these contradictions and weighed down by the many burdens of liminality, the agent may "loosen" or "slip off" the hook. Illegal debts accrued from involvement in drug trade ("street debts") and interrelated security concerns constitute two hitherto unrecognized frustrations that complicate desistance efforts. The findings underscore how desistance is always situated in the context of other concerns and demands, with practical implications for offender rehabilitation.