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

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.

Utilizing evidence from the narratives of justice-involved emerging adults, this book details key turning points for young people 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 twenties 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 young people and behavior across the life course and maturation, deviance, and desistance, as well as for practitioners working on desistance or working with young people engaged in deviance.