Motherhood, social influences and ‘home’: Women’s desistance in Aotearoa New Zealand

In broad terms, desistance can be defined as the process of journeying out of crime. This process has been associated with various external factors (such as obtaining employment, housing, or access to social support) and internal factors (such as being motivated to change, or having a sense of agency). By integrating several strands of desistance theory, the current research examines women’s desistance in New Zealand, with a particular focus on participants’ experiences of motherhood, relationships, and housing. It was shaped by the need for further theoretical development in several areas of existing desistance literature, including the potentially gendered aspects of the desistance process (particularly concerning parenthood and relationships), women’s experiences of desistance in a New Zealand-based context (including those of Indigenous women, Māori), and the role of housing and ‘home’ in desistance. Through narrative interviews with 15 women with histories of imprisonment in New Zealand (67% of whom identified as Māori) this thesis traces women’s experiences of motherhood, relationships, and housing to examine the effects of these factors on the women’s desistance at different stages of their life journeys. In doing so, this research provides important contributions to feminist literature on women’s desistance. It was found that although motherhood could play an important role in catalysing or reinforcing change, its positive effects were often limited – at least initially - by disadvantageous life circumstances (including histories of addiction, trauma, and socio-economic marginalisation). Other relationships – including those with family, whānau (extended family) and romantic partners – often played a complex and contradictory role in the women’s desistance. The findings suggest that women’s relationships should be viewed as complex processes and the tendency to employ a static anti/pro-social binary should be resisted. Finally, housing played an important role in constraining or enabling the women’s desistance. It is argued that women with histories of imprisonment require housing which not only provides physical benefits (such as shelter), but also the psycho-social benefits of ‘home’, such as sense of safety and control. A home can form an essential platform for women to ‘do’ desistance.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminology

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Low, Grace

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mills, Alice

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/64432

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/64432