Juveniles desist-from-crime: qualitatif research into young adults with a juvenile justice history.

Criminological research on criminal trajectories of minors and young adults traditionally focuses on the question why these youngsters persist in committing criminal acts. This (mainly etiological) research focuses mainly on individual and social elements or risk factors which can predict and explain recidivism and the development of persistence, without investigating what these factors mean according to the delinquent (Burnett en Maruna, 2004). The What-works tradition, within this viewpoint, has carried out a lot of scientific research on the effect of judicial measures on recidivism (Smith, 2006). In recent years however, criminological research has taken a turn in this area by reversing the question: "Why do delinquents (juveniles, adults) quit committing criminal acts after a period of time?" The scientific attention for this focus on desistance is growing steadily. By now, a lot of international work on "desistance-from-crime" has been conducted, trying to comprehend the underlying process of the termination of the criminal trajectory. Recently, Belgian contributions were made to this research area (Nuytiens, Christiaens, Eliaerts, 2007; Clonen, Goethals, Aertsen, 2009). However, for the time being, this Belgian participation remains very modest (Clonen, Goethals, Aertsen, 2009). By taking a closer look into international literature, one may find quite a lot of questions that remain unanswered, as well on the methodological as on the empirical level. This proposal wants to take up this international as well as the Belgian lacuna by making an original and fundamental contribution.