Violence and desistance studies: Qualitative methods for approaching processes and dynamics

This symposium focuses on desistance - exit of violence - in several areas: violent radicalization, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency. Desistance is defined as the process of exit from delinquency: this research theme has been of growing interest for the last 20 years. Studies on desistance are no longer focused on motivations explaining the delinquent trajectory but try to understand why and especially how people get out of delinquency through different points of view (individual, social, and interactionist). This new scientific interest brings the shift from risk-focused work to focused work on human resources (Stoll & Jendly, 2018). Qualitative methods can approach the complexity of dynamics and processes of change mobilized in desistance. The three studies on desistance have two objectives: first, to understand the processes of desistance of subjects who engaged in violent conduct (domestic violence, juvenile delinquency and violent radicalization); and second, to present from these studies specific qualitative methods and to discuss their relevance and specificity in studies dedicated to desistance.