Introduction

This chapter presents the results of a research study that was conducted between 2012 and 2014 in Romania. More specifically, the chapter analyses the extent to which probation practice in Romania follows the principles of desistance. To do so, the chapter starts with an overview of what the desistance literature suggests is required for effective probation practice. The chapter then goes on to present the findings of a study that was based on external observations of practice using a checklist. In its conclusion, the chapter explores the implications of the study's findings for practice.

Desistance literature

One of the few certainties in criminology is that offending behavior peaks in the teenage years and then starts declining (Glueck and Glueck, 1943; Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). This observation led Hoffman and Beck (1984, p 621) to conclude that there is an agerelated ‘burnout’ phenomenon. Research is replete with evidence that offenders change as they age (Shover, 1985; Cusson and Pinsonneault, 1986; Kazemian, 2007). Formal and informal forms of social control become more prominent with age (for example, getting married, changing friends, getting a job and so on). Fear of going back to prison, for example, can be described as a formal form of social control that becomes more acute with age, as shown by Shover (1986). That said, it seems that different factors affect desistance at different ages. For instance, factors associated with desistance before the age of 18 are different from the factors associated to desistance after the age of 30.

This disparity is explained by what Matza (1964) and Glueck and Glueck (1974) describe as the maturation reform. According to Glueck and Glueck (1974, p 149), ‘the physical and mental changes which enter into the natural process of maturation offer a chief explanation of improvement of conduct with the passing of years’. They argue that desistance occurs in the late twenties and early thirties. With age, other developments take place, such as attitudes, beliefs and values. Most of these changes are usually consequences of life experiences (Bushway et al, 2001).