A Peacemaking Approach to Desistance from Crime

One of the most persistent criticisms of the peacemaking perspective in criminology is that it lacks testable hypotheses and realistic policy implications. In this essay, we examine the applicability of peacemaking ideas to the mechanisms identified by scholars that are associated with desistance from crime. We argue that the process of desistance has many similarities with peacemaking ideas and may provide an avenue for testing some of the core propositions of the peacemaking perspective. We propose a model that depicts the relationships between variables that have been observed in the desistance literature and examine how they relate to the peacemaking perspective. Policy implications of these ideas are also discussed.