Desistance rituals: ritual practice among street criminal men (re-) turning to Islam within and beyond Norwegian prisons

In the media and research, Islam is often described as an amplifier of crime and a trigger for radicalization in criminal milieus. However, street criminals becoming religious is a social phenomenon that mostly deters crime. In the nexus where street culture meets Islam, Islamic rituals work as a resource of desistance. Informed by ritual studies and lived religion, this study explores the ritual practices of 25 Muslim men with a criminal background to provide new insights into the function of religious rituals for a specific social group. The participants' experiences with street crime were shaped by hedonism, violence, and distress; they selected and performed Islamic rituals with the potential to change their lives. Their ritual practices, which I refer to as 'desistance rituals', were explicitly embodied, emotionally charged, and collectively performed and operated as a means of self-discipline, resocialization, and social recognition.