and desistance through drama. Imaginative engagement like this may make the public think in a deeper way than by reading a newspaper article or tweet, and so funding for similar artistic projects should be encouraged, while considering the valuable wider social impact (not just the financial implications) of the endeavour, which would, of course, be difficult to quantify. More generally, the findings on the nature and availability of identities showed that some desisters lay claim to a new identity while others return to a previously experienced sense of self. This has implications for services who work with all sorts of potential desisters. While many will experience a shift in identity as they desist, and services will want to support and encourage that change, some care over the use of language is necessary. As this research discovered, a number of desisters who returned to a previous identity in their desistance, discourse in services should not always use the term 'new me' or 'replacement self' in their personal and group work in this area. Instead, discussions about personal development rather than becoming a different person may feel more comfortable for many desisters. Such terminology would be inclusive for both those finding a brand new identity and those returning to a previous self. Also relating to identity, there is a need for continued recognition of the socio-structural constraints that determine the identities available to desisters. Regardless of normative judgments about whether these are appropriate constraints, and subject to connected discussions about dealing with agency and structure through campaigning discussed below, it is over-ambitious for services to aim to unequivocally change existing constraints surrounding available identities to their service users. Instead, an appreciation of the reality of the importance of structural opportunities and others' opinions of 'appropriate' roles, in whatever the desister's context, would be valuable. For example, in Chapter 7, staff at Together Women discussed the disappointment facing ex-prisoners when they discovered their hairdressing qualification was not actually sufficient to secure them a job in the community. Therefore, a realistic appreciation of, for example, the job market's perspective on criminal records, would help prevent the disappointment of hopes and subsequent lack of confidence when desisters face
and desistance through drama. Imaginative engagement like this may make the public think in a deeper way than by reading a newspaper article or tweet, and so funding for similar artistic projects should be encouraged, while considering the valuable wider social impact (not just the financial implications) of the endeavour, which would, of course, be difficult to quantify. More generally, the findings on the nature and availability of identities showed that some desisters lay claim to a new identity while others return to a previously experienced sense of self. This has implications for services who work with all sorts of potential desisters. While many will experience a shift in identity as they desist, and services will want to support and encourage that change, some care over the use of language is necessary. As this research discovered, a number of desisters who returned to a previous identity in their desistance, discourse in services should not always use the term 'new me' or 'replacement self' in their personal and group work in this area. Instead, discussions about personal development rather than becoming a different person may feel more comfortable for many desisters. Such terminology would be inclusive for both those finding a brand new identity and those returning to a previous self. Also relating to identity, there is a need for continued recognition of the socio-structural constraints that determine the identities available to desisters. Regardless of normative judgments about whether these are appropriate constraints, and subject to connected discussions about dealing with agency and structure through campaigning discussed below, it is over-ambitious for services to aim to unequivocally change existing constraints surrounding available identities to their service users. Instead, an appreciation of the reality of the importance of structural opportunities and others' opinions of 'appropriate' roles, in whatever the desister's context, would be valuable. For example, in Chapter 7, staff at Together Women discussed the disappointment facing ex-prisoners when they discovered their hairdressing qualification was not actually sufficient to secure them a job in the community. Therefore, a realistic appreciation of, for example, the job market's perspective on criminal records, would help prevent the disappointment of hopes and subsequent lack of confidence when desisters face