Desisting Sisters: Gender, Power and Desistance in the Criminal (In)Justice System

276 Pages·2019·2.27 MB·English

by  Úna Barr

Critical Criminological Perspectives
Desisting Sisters
Gender, Power and Desistance in the
Criminal (In)Justice System
Úna Barr
Critical Criminological Perspectives
Series Editors
Reece Walters
Faculty of Law
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Deborah H. Drake
Social Policy & Criminology Department
The Open University
Milton Keynes, UK
The Palgrave Critical Criminological Perspectives book series aims to
showcase the importance of critical criminological thinking when exam-
ining problems of crime, social harm and criminal and social justice.
Critical perspectives have been instrumental in creating new research
agendas and areas of criminological interest. By challenging state defined
concepts of crime and rejecting positive analyses of criminality, critical
criminological approaches continually push the boundaries and scope of
criminology, creating new areas of focus and developing new ways of
thinking about, and responding to, issues of social concern at local,
national and global levels. Recent years have witnessed a flourishing of
critical criminological narratives and this series seeks to capture the origi-
nal and innovative ways that these discourses are engaging with contem-
porary issues of crime and justice.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14932
Úna Barr
Desisting Sisters
Gender, Power and Desistance in the
Criminal (In)Justice System
Úna Barr
School of Humanities and Social Science
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, UK
Critical Criminological Perspectives
ISBN 978-3-030-14275-9 ISBN 978-3-030-14276-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14276-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019934467
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
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This thesis is dedicated to the memory of two women who left us too soon—
the woman known as ‘Sue’ in this book, and my beautiful cousin and friend
Fiona Kelly, who is so missed.
Acknowledgements
There are many people and organisations to thank for the opportunity to
write the original thesis, allowing me to think that I could have the audac-
ity to publish it as a book, and supporting me to get there in the end.
Firstly, of course, huge thanks go to Seán and Paula Barr. Thank you for
always encouraging me to do what I want to do and to try to make a dif-
ference while doing it. Special thanks to my da for letting me barrow
‘medicalising the marginalised’. To my brother, Dermot. Thanks for
always being available to chat through any issues I had and offering great
insights. To Éimear, my real-life sister and hero, Seánna, Eilís and Rossa
O’Cóinn. To Janet Raven-Martin and Ian Martin and, of course, and
always, to Tom. You are the best. Thank you also to a person who we have
yet to meet, but who has encouraged me to get the book finished before
their arrival. We love you so much already.
To everyone who supported me in my PhD at the University of Central
Lancashire (UCLan) and onwards, particularly my good friend Laura
Kelly and my supervision team: Maria Sapouna, Megan Todd and, in
particular, Martin O’Brien. To Helen Codd and Fergus McNeill for
examining my thesis and offering insightful guidance.
Colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) have been
overwhelmingly kind and supportive, in particular the ‘Shut Up and
Write’ crew and Lindsey Metcalf for all her organisational skills and
encouragement, former LJMU colleague Adam Westall, and my
vii
viii Acknowledgements
ever- supportive boss, Janet Jamieson. Particular and special thanks go to
Joe Sim, without whom this book would never have been either submit-
ted to publishers or finished. Thank you for all your guidance and encour-
agement on my draft chapters. It is such a privileged position to work
with people you see as your academic heroes, and I am so lucky to work
with so many of mine. Kym Atkinson, Katie Tucker, Helen Monk and
the Centre for Crime Criminalisation and Social Exclusion deserve spe-
cial thanks. Thanks to all the students in LJMU who continue to teach
me. In particular, conversations with Natalie Christian have been invalu-
able. Thanks to John Moore for asking a question which I thought about
for a year after in Lesbos, and to all at the European Group for the Study
of Deviance and Social Control.
To the services known in this book as the Northshire Women Centres
and the Housing for Northshire project. Special thanks to the women
referred to as Rebecca, Christine, Mary and Jenny.
Thank you to everyone at Palgrave Macmillan, especially Liam Inscoe-
Jones and Josie Taylor. Thanks to Critical Criminological Perspectives
and Deborah Drake in particular for the encouragement.
Most of all, I’d like to thank all the women who gave up their time to
speak to me about their lives, something which was not always easy. I can
only hope I have done justice to your stories. The resilience you have
shown in the face of injustice will be a constant source of inspiration.
Contents
1 D efining Desistance 1
2 Explaining Desistance: Traditional Perspectives 25
3 A Case of Growing Up? A Feminist Critique of
Maturational Theory 55
4 ‘A Good Job and the Love of a Good Woman’: A Feminist
Critique of Social Bonds Theory 71
5 All in the Head? A Feminist Critique of Subjective Theory 113
6 (In)Justice Systems 157
7 Making the Invisible Visible 189
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x Contents
8 C onclusion 213
Appendix: Methodology 231
Bibliography 247
Index 265