Leverhulme Trust Award secured to research Desistance from Crime Amongst Black and Ethnic Probationers

Professor Stephen Farrall and Dr Jason Warr have been awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Grant to explore the processes of how and why people from various ethnic background cease offending.

Over the past 30 years, criminologists have sought to understand why people cease offending. Whilst these studies have produced numerous theories, and insights into why people desist from crime, there has been very little exploration of the ways in which people from minority ethnic groups cease offending. This is a serious oversight, since a) ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the traffic of the criminal justice system, and b) due to structural racism, are less likely to be employed or form families of their own (both associated with desistance).

This project will innovatively theorise processes of desistance for minority and racialised groups. The project will employ two PDRAs for the duration of the grant, and will commence in the Autumn of 2024, and will run for 30mths.