The gendered labour of desistance: Moving beyond imprisonment and monocultural perspectives

Barr, Ú ORCID: 0000-0002-4774-5259, Hall, L and Osterman, L (2026) The gendered labour of desistance: Moving beyond imprisonment and monocultural perspectives. Theoretical Criminology. ISSN 1362-4806

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Abstract

This article explores the interplay between desistance and gendered forms of labour in community-based settings across England and Sweden. Building on feminist conceptualisations of women's ‘second shift’, the article draws on qualitative data from three research projects to explore how informal, gendered practices, linked to heteronormative ideals and expectations, feature in women's stories of desistance. Our results show that women provide emotional, practical and financial support for the desistance of partners and male family members in ways that not only reflect but also reproduce broader gendered divisions of unpaid labour. Often, this happens while criminalised women are attempting to desist themselves. Framed through the concept of gendered labour of desistance, the key contribution of the paper is to expose hidden gendered dynamics involved in desistance work and to argue for their inclusion in, and resistance within, desistance theory.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Centre for the Study of Crime Criminalisation and Social Exclusion (CCSE); 1602 Criminology; 1801 Law; Criminology; 4402 Criminology; 4804 Law in context; 4805 Legal systems
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV7231 Criminal Justice Administrations H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV8301 Penology. Prisons. Corrections
Divisions:	Law and Justice Studies
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date of acceptance:	5 August 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	8 October 2026
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2026 12:24
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2026 12:28
DOI or ID number:	10.1177/13624806261479696
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29631

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