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Abstract
Abstract
The PhD research designed and tested a measure of belief in redeemability (BIR), a term used by Maruna and King (2004; 2009) to refer to beliefs about whether a person can change, desist from crime, and take their place in society. The term belongs to the body of research into the subjective aspects of desistance, starting with the work of Shadd Maruna (1997; 2001), the other main areas of desistance research being about maturational and social events.
My research began by reviewing correctional practice in Australia (Chapter 2), and found that a desistance approach hardly figures in the policy or planning of correctional jurisdictions whether desistance is viewed from a maturational, social, or subjective point of view. This is despite it being a burgeoning area of research interest.
I then reviewed studies of the subjective approach to desistance (Chapter 3), which indicated that what offenders believe about themselves may be important for their process of desistance from crime. My review also indicated that this belief has not hitherto been measured in a quantitative, repeatable way.
I then compiled and administered a pilot scale, the Belief in Redeemability scale (BIR) using offenders’ statements about their prospects for desistance (Chapter 4). I found that the scores (N=51) were normally distributed and I used an expert panel method to sort the scale items into categories. These categories were consistent with the findings of other researchers in the field.
In Chapter 5 I used a modified version of the BIR scale (the BIR-2 scale) to survey a large and well-stratified sample of the Australian public (N=1215), I collected data that were normally distributed and was able to use multivariate analysis to derive a three-factor model consistent with the findings for the BIR scale. Finally, (Chapter 6) I used the BIR-2 scale with a sample of offenders in the community (N=180). I found a small, significant negative correlation with a robust measure of risk of re-offending, and a small, positive, non-significant correlation with a measure of re-offending.
Chapter 7 provides a discussion of the findings, their implications for practice, and useful future directions for research.