Wahlman, Lily | 2025
European Journal of Criminology
Building and expanding on contemporary research where desistance is increasingly conceived of as
a fragile and liminal experience, this paper examines the early desistance process through the lens
of ambivalence – an undertheorised concept in life course criminology. This paper employs qualitative
interviews from a total of 10 participants who participated in SIG, a voluntary defector programme
in Sweden. Despite having formulated a clear resolve to desist, the participants
nonetheless experienced feelings of ambivalence in relation to the desistance process. In these
instances, the aspiring desisters were bordering between the prospects of a better, crime-free
life and the pains, losses, struggles and frustrations accompanying the early stages of desistance.
It is argued that this liminal position, where the old life is to be discarded and a new, better life
is yet to be built, may constitute a breeding ground for ambivalence – a state which needs to
be grounded in the precarious social position of marginalised youth which aspiring desisters typically
occupy.
