1. ‘Researchon sentencing,communitysanctionsand ex offenderreintegration’ –ProfessorFergus
McNeil,ProfessorofCriminologyand Social Work
ProfessorMcNeil beganby discussingthe conceptsof liminality,transitioning anddesistance from
criminality.He usedaquote fromJimmyBoyle toexplainliminality:
“I am torn betweentwoworlds –alienatedfromthe oldone anda strangerinthisnew one”
The challenge thatpeople face whendesistingfromcriminalityisthattheymustdiscardtheir
criminal self andfindanew identityandnew wayof livingbyre-labellingthemselves. This
transitional periodcanalsobe calleda“liminal”period.
He alsotalkedaboutthe importance of literacyandthe role librarieshave inthe creationof anew
non-criminal identityforex-offenders.Transitioningcanbe a verydifficultandisolatingprocessand
librariescanbe usedas placesof escape as well ashelpingpeople throughliminal periodsbothin
prisonandout.
He describedtwo different“scripts”thatpeople see themselvesashavingwhengoingthrough
desistance fromcriminality.Firstlya“condemnationscript”:offendersseetheirlife scriptsashaving
beenwrittenforthemalongtime ago. Theysee themselvesaspassive,beingsweptalongbyevents
rather thanmakingactive decisions.
Secondlyhe describeda“redemptionscript”:the offender,withthe helpof anoutside force,isable
to steerthroughand dothe thingsthathe/she always“meanttodo”.
ProfessorMcNeil thendemonstratedGiordano’s“processof change”,whichisasfollows:
General cognitive opennesstochange
|
Exposure andreactionto “hooksforchange”
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Availabilityof anappealingconventionalself (losingthe criminal identityandassuminga
new conceptof self)
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Transformationinattitudestodeviantbehaviour

2. He wentonto describe the variationsindesistence thatmen fromdifferentethnicitiesexperience:
Bangladeshi desisters:have familiesandcommunitieswaitingforthem.Forgivenessand
religiosityallowsthemtoreintegrate.Islamoffersthema“life script”toadopt,takingon the
rolesof beinga goodMuslimand a goodfather.A space is heldopenforthem.
Indiandesisters:likewise have familiesandcommunitieswaiting.Theyalsohave aspirational
valuesandemployment.Oftenfamilygroupswill havefabricatedamythtoexplaintheir
absence,egtheyhave beenona religiouspilgrimage.The social stigmaof beinganex-
offenderistherefore lessened.
Black anddual heritage:Have individual andisolatedpathways.Nospace asfatheras
familiesmayhave movedon.Performakindof “self-incarceration”byjoiningagym, staying
inside andkeepingoff the streets.Itwassuggestedthatwhite workingclassdesistersmay
followthissame path.
ProfessorMcNeil proceededtodescribe the processof desistance. He saidthatthere isa lotof
ambivalence andvacillation:people tendtozig-zag,beingmotivatedone dayandfallingbackinto
oldpatternsthe next.There isa needfor:
“Re-biography”, i.e. changingidentities/narratives, andfor outside people toacceptthat
newbiography.Thiscanbe promptedbylife events –e.g. marriage or the birthof a child –
but dependsonwhat meaning these eventshold forthe individual.Theseeventsare
therefore subjective,individualisedandsensitivetodifferenceanddiversity.
Hope,causedby someone believinginthe offender.Librariescanbe a space for hope.
Active processes:the discoveryof agency;takingcontrol of one’sownnarrative
Certification/acknowledgementthroughredemption/restoration.Givingsomethingback
and findingpurpose ingenerative activities(“constructive reparation”).Providinghelpto
others,notjustreceivingit.Knowingthatone haschangedthroughone’sactions.
He thenwentonto discusslibrariesandliteracyand theirimportance indesistance.Forpersistent
offenders,desistence isabout“re-storying”one’sself.Literacyandthe supportthatlibrariesprovide
are therefore critical tothe processof rewritingone’sstory,notonly aboutthe pastbutabout the
presentandfuture too.Equally,illiteracylimitsprogrammesthatare designedtodevelopcognitive
and problemsolvingskills,damagingthe offender’schancesuponrelease.
ProfessorMcNeil alsoraisedthe issue that“writersneedreaders”,i.e.the “re-storying”of the self
needsareceptive audience andthatthe writerneedstotell the storyof how theyhave changed. He
questionedwhere these “readers”wouldcome from. Kate Kinglaterrespondedtothis issue by
sayingthat librarystaff canact as receptive listenersandare oftenvital forthiskindof support.She
and Nigel Ironsidealsogave the example of the VPP (Violence PreventionProgramme), anintensive
six monthcourse designedto give offendersthe chance totell theirstoriestopeers,governorsand
families.

3. Finally,ProfessorMcNeil identifiedfourtypesof reintegration:
Judicial Reintegration:legallyallowsoffendertoleave pastbehind,e.g.inGermany,aperson
can have theircriminal recordsealedafteracertainperiodof time.
Social Reintegration:De-labelling;informal,social recognitionof reformedstatues.Libraries
can be an importantpartof thisprocess:offenderisa readeramongotherreaders,no
difference betweenthem.
Psychological Reintegration:Developmentof personal capacity,personalityand
reintegrationof the self.
Moral ReintegrationProvidingevidence of developmentof characterthroughconduct.
Making good;payingback.
He stressedthatall fourtypeswere neededforfull reintegration.
ProfessorMcNeil concludedbystatingthat desistencewasaprocessrather thanan event,thatit
was a pathwayto integrationandcitizenshipratherthanan endinitself andthatwe needto look
beyondthe individual tofamilies,communitiesandthe state.