Young people talked at length about the circumstances which were needed in order to make a change and move away from their offending lifestyle. These were grouped into sub-themes; individual and situational factors. Individual factors focused on self-motivation for change, maturity and having something to lose. In contrast, situational factors were the support of other people, having something else to do and the future impact of offending. These factors are similar to those described by YOT practitioners in the interviews, as they spoke about the importance of support, self-motivation and pro-social relationships.
5.4.3.1 Individual
Young people considered individual motives as the most crucial in making changes in their behaviour. Being determined to change and making those changes for themselves was central. In addition, many thought they had moved away from offending because they had matured and considered offending to be childish. Young people spoke about how having something to lose was one of the key reasons for their desistance from crime. In this, self-motivation was critical, and they talked about how changing behaviour was for personal benefit rather than for other people;
“you do it for yourself, it’s not really to please anyone, it’s to sort yourself, it’s for yourself” (P205)
Young people who were currently not offending were keen to avoid any future offending. However, while they were aware that they could not control all
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situations which could increase the likelihood of reoffending, they did demonstrate a desire to stop offending.
“You never know. I might be back. Hopefully not though” (P204) “I feel like I want to stay out of trouble innit. I don’t want to do this stuff anymore, But I can’t predict the future so I don’t know” (P208)
“We all say were not gonna do it anymore…but anything can happen” (P209)
“Erm yeah. Why would I ever get back into crime? (P211)
Offending was associated with childish and immature behaviour and young people talked about having grown out of crime. They spoke about having to settle down and how they had realised that offending no longer provided a purpose; they were interested in other things. Some of them now thought offending was immature and no longer wanted to be part of that life;
“Starting to settle down and stuff” (P207)
“I’m older now, I’ve got no choice…need to settle down, get my life together” (P211)
“Realise its am immature thing” (P213)
By far the most important reason for young people moving away from offending, was the idea of “having something to lose”. This encouraged young people to stop committing offences because by continuing to offend they would be sacrificing something important to them. They acknowledged that this idea of having something to lose could be the difference between young people who desisted from crime and those who continued to offend. Mostly, they talked about how having a family, or having a child, provided a reason to stop offending, with a fear that they would lose this important part of that life if they continued. Others spoke more generally about how a young person needed to care about something in order to change.
“You get some kids who don’t have anything, and they aren’t bothered are they? But I have something don’t I? I have a family, I have something to look forward to. To go home to.” (P206)
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“Some aren’t entirely bothered. Like I’m not bothered but if you’ve got something to lose and you are bothered” (P211)
5.4.3.2 Contextual Factors
Young people understood that along with individual reasons for changing their behaviour, contextual factors also had an impact on desistance from crime. They spoke about the impact of family support and how having something to do helped them move away from crime.
Young people saw their family, and the support they offered, as crucially important to desisting from crime. They spoke about the impact their offending had on their families and how they understood the consequences of their actions through how their family reacted to their continued offending. One young person spoke about how when he began working with YOT he understood that his “spur of the moment” offence had the potential to cause a lot of hurt to his family and to other people’s families. Families offered a strong motivation to influence personal change.
“Oh thinking why would I want to put my family through that? Sitting there crying because they’ve lost their son, through something stupid” (P206) “My family and wanted me to change, I wanted to change for them” (P208)
Young people spoke about the impact that their offending would have on their future life. Thinking about how hard it was to find employment and housing with a criminal record helped young people to understand the long-term impact of their offending.
“They should just sit down and have a big think about how its gonna impact on their life” (P210)
Lastly, young people talked about how feeling occupied and being busy helped them move away from offending. They recognised the difficulties of desisting from crime without having money, and that they just wanted somewhere to hang out with their friends. Improving their education and finding a job were important to changing their behaviour.
“It was just getting bored of doing the same things every day, there is nothing to do. There’s nothing, kids my age just want somewhere to sit,
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somewhere warm instead of sitting with their mum watching Corrie. Just want something to do” (P206)
“I wanna be active, I don’t wanna be sat about chilling every single day. Doing nothing” (P209)