Desistance and Boxing: The Ambivalence of the Gym

In this chapter I examine the structural positioning of young men and how this translates into the appeal and desisting elements of boxing. Building upon criminological theories, I present arguments that elaborate on how the sport of boxing is appealing in its promotion of physical capital, money and peer admiration, and also how the logic of the gym reinforces the logic of the streets. In short, the lessons learnt and the masculine discourses inherent in the boxing gym reinforce the discourses of the streets, and the men who attend the gym are well versed in its translation. Seen in this light, the boxing gym merely acts as a site of incapacitation and is therefore not contributory to a process of desistance or cognitive transformation (Giordano 2002; Maruna 2001)