THE VICTIMIZATION–TERMINATION LINK.

The life histories of drug dealers suggest that victimizations sometimes mark turning points toward the end of criminal careers, which is a criminologically important but neglected empirical connection that we label the “victimization–termination link.” We theorize this link thusly: When serious victimizations occur in the context of crime, a break from the customary provides an opportune situation for adaptation, and when victims have social bonds and agency, when they define the event as the result of their own criminal involvement, and when they find other adaptations unattractive, criminal-victims are likely to adapt by terminating crime. We illustrate this desistance process with qualitative data obtained through interviews with young, middle-class drug dealers. We conclude by exploring promising avenues for future work. It takes only a minute to change one's whole life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]