As an empirical concept, desistance refers to the process of the termination of criminal offending. As a theoretical concept, desistance refers to reductions in the frequency, variety, or seriousness of criminal offending. The measurement of desistance generally involves any number of measures regarding the termination of offending, typically identified through self-report and official crime data. Measuring desistance is important in order to discover what predicts and causes desistance at different ages or stages of criminal careers. One of the important questions in this type of research is whether later life events predict desistance better than earlier risk factors. Another key issue for desistance research is the relative importance of individual and environmental predictors in the initiation and process of crime desistance. The study of crime desistance has important policy issues. For example, information about the probability of criminal persistence versus desistance can inform parole and policy decisions. Moreover, information on protective factors that foster crime desistance can inform interventions following the onset of criminality. Priorities for future desistance research are identified and include questions such as: (1) how desistance can be measured; (2) can desistance from one criminal career follow initiation of another criminal career; (3) do individuals decelerate criminal activity before desisting altogether; (4) what life events cause desistance; (5) what interventions foster or accelerate desistance; and (6) what are the effects of criminal justice sanctions on desistance? The author recommends that these questions should be addressed for: (1) different ages; (2) different times and places; (3) males versus females; (4) different races and cultures; and (5) different offense types and different types of anti-social behaviors. Notes, references