Stories of persistence and desistance: A study on Maltese ex-inmates’ pathways in and out of crime

Abstract: This thesis investigates five ex-inmates’ narratives on their pathways in and out of crime in Malta. In-depth interviews were conducted to generate their stories. Previous studies on criminal pathways tend to prioritise either the persistence or desistance path and present each path as a linear process. Within this context, the complexities of a criminal path and barriers towards desistance tend to be ignored. To contribute to the body of works aimed at minimising this gap, I analyse past, present and future identities in relation to individual agency and social influences. Additionally, barriers and pains of both desistance and persistence were also considered to exemplify multifaceted criminal paths further. Therefore, the theoretical framework expands on narratives, identity and symbolic interactionism to illustrate how past, present and future identities and social actors influence a persister or desister identity.