Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives

Can hardened criminals really reform? Making Good provides resounding proof that the answer is yes. This book provides a fascinating narrative analysis of the lives of repeat offenders who, by all statistical measures, should have continued on the criminal path but instead have created lives of productivity and purpose. This examination of the phenomenology of "making good" includes an encyclopedic review of the literature on personal reform as well as a practical guide to the use of narratives in offender counseling and rehabilitation. The author's research shows that criminals who desist from crime have constructed powerful narratives that aided them in making sense of their pasts, finding fulfillment in productive behaviors, and feeling in control of their future. Borrowing from the field of narrative psychology, Maruna argues that to truly understand offenders, we must understand the stories that they tell-and that in turn this story-making process has the capacity to transform lives. Making Good challenges some of the cherished assumptions of various therapy models for offenders and supports new paradigms for offender rehabilitation. This groundbreaking book is a must read for criminologists, forensic psychologists, lawyers, rehabilitation counselors, or anyone interested in the generative process of change.

Can hardened criminals really reform? Making Good provides resounding proof that the answer is yes. This book provides a fascinating narrative analysis of the lives of repeat offenders who, by all statistical measures, should have continued on the criminal path but instead have created lives of productivity and purpose. This examination of the phenomenology of "making good" includes an encyclopedic review of the literature on personal reform as well as a practical guide to the use of narratives in offender counseling and rehabilitation. The author's research shows that criminals who desist from crime have constructed powerful narratives that aided them in making sense of their pasts, finding fulfillment in productive behaviors, and feeling in control of their future. Borrowing from the field of narrative psychology, Maruna argues that to truly understand offenders, we must understand the stories that they tell-and that in turn this story-making process has the capacity to transform lives. Making Good challenges some of the cherished assumptions of various therapy models for offenders and supports new paradigms for offender rehabilitation. This groundbreaking book is a must read for criminologists, forensic psychologists, lawyers, rehabilitation counselors, or anyone interested in the generative process of change.

'07 Michigander tour, I couldn't ride the Cyclo-cross bike I was building for this ride because I broke my collarbone less than 6 weeks before the ride. Riding an upright for 45 - 65 miles/day was out of the question so I rebuilt one of my Trek R-200s for the dirt. It work ell beyond my expectations. 19mph on the dirt trails and at 43mph on asphalt (a bit downhill) it rode like an Electra-Glide. Like sitting in a Barca-lounger.....a Barca-bike! The Meks carbon shock fork help much, and i had to come up with a rack to haul my panniers because the last day anna half we rode loaded (bikes) back to my buddies cottage east of Grayling from Mackinaw City. I'll load a shot of the bike with my gear on it....too much stuff!

at the Rebuilding Together’s Kickoff to Rebuild on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Aaron M. Sprecher/AP Images for Rebuilding Together)