Driving desistance

There is a memorable quote from the fascinating study of car theft in the USA, by John A Heitmann and Rebecca H Morales, that put me in mind of my supervisory experience when working with Alan (not his real name). The authors quote from one of their sources the motivating drive (no pun intended!) of a seasoned automobile thief – his reason for stealing was that 'he could not have a champagne lifestyle on a dishwasher income'.

I had been allocated supervisory responsibility for Alan's lengthy probation order (three years was the maximum duration for any such order), due to what the sentencing court deemed his 'obsessive mania' for stealing cars and a 'blatant disregard' for other people’s property. The initial supervisory meetings proved to be particularly challenging. His adamant resistance to any bespoke interventions (he had also been placed on a newly established group work programme designed for those convicted of motor related offences) and measured indifference to any suggestions that he might begin to desist from such illegality, often resulted in sullen withdrawal and terse engagement when Alan reported to the probation office.

It was evident that his fascination with certain high performance cars, and his dazzling knowledge of the workings of automobiles, afforded an opening in which to better understand the particularly seductive dynamics that informed his meticulous planning and carefully executed thefts. His periods in custody did not appear to dampen this compulsion and indeed seemed to further excite his desire to be seen 'with the best set of wheels' in the neighbourhood.

Having liaised with one of my probation colleagues who was responsible for devising the group work programme, I began to better sense that Alan's participation in group work sessions seemed to further entrench his dishonest lifestyle, through the appearances portrayed to other group members. One group member opined that 'he's into high end flash' and he's got a ‘regular sellers column in auto-trader magazine'.

That Alan managed to comply with the terms of his order and evince any cognitive distance from his actions was something of an achievement, but at that point in time, merely a temporary respite for those most directly impacted by his forays into motor vehicular offending. After another brazenly audacious set of thefts of luxury cars, he was held on remand in a local prison, and the probation order proved at that point unworkable. The Crown Court was persuaded to request a pre-sentence report and I visited Alan in custody to prepare it, with some trepidation.  I knew that any credible sentencing options in the community had, it appeared, been all but exhausted.

There was, however, a discernible change of tone in our interview which caught me unawares. I tried to fight shy of any jaded professionalism and aimed to offer my version of the Pygmalion effect! I recognised the many pitfalls on the tricky road to desistance. There were moments when it seemed that there was limited scope for sustained optimism that such offending might diminish – the rewards (in Alan's eyes) appeared to greatly outweigh the downside of incarceration and prolonged separation from his emotionally shredded wider family, especially when set against such long standing criminality. But I did allude to his impending 30th birthday in my report (with some criminological confidence!), as perhaps the potential for a changed mindset and motivational change. The sentencing judge, although not unsympathetic to such observations and noting Alan's more active engagement in supervision, opted to reduce the length of his guideline prison sentence accordingly.

I continued to retain supervisory responsibility for Alan's through care, during the custodial part of his sentence and his period on licence when released. This time around, with the glamour of his erstwhile lifestyle beginning to be shorn of its appeal, he had made some positive links when inside with an enterprising community project that he ably latched onto – and who recognised his potential for 'salesmanship'!

Another unsettling experience, that appeared to influence his shifting approach to criminality, was the untimely death of one his ‘associates' during a high speed car chase. His casual evasions when challenged appeared to be on the wane, and his passion for cars, whilst undimmed, could now be reimagined, albeit with much reduced 'thrills and spills'.

The powerfully redemptive story of Reggie Shaw (who killed two motorists when driving whilst texting) in Matt Richtel's unforgettable narrative captures something of the compulsive allure that technology provides and the impact of deadly distractions when driving.

Alan offered this terse observation towards the end of his period on licence, about how things might change in a positive direction: ‘I was on bang up when Pete (name changed) was buried, no set of wheels can bring him back, enough said!'