Overlapping crime: Stability and specialization of co-offending relationships

Abstract Dyadic analyses of relationships between criminals have mostly ignored the multiplex nature of criminal ties. This study attempts to provide a more complete assessment of co-offending networks by incorporating the different types of crime that relate individuals with each other. Drawing on a large dataset of arrests in Quebec between 2003 and 2009, we focus on co-offending stability and specialization and illustrate how co-offending networks based on different types of criminal activities overlap. We portray a pattern of co-offending, which extends debate of criminal specialization/versatility to the dyadic level. Our study illustrates the ways in which the frequency and spectrum of crime include a relational component. More generally, the article emphasizes the need to consider the semantics of network ties, and further, the association between different types of networks, which ultimately offers a reassessment of social structure.

[1]  S. Mednick,et al.  SPECIALIZATION IN VIOLENCE: EVIDENCE OF A CRIMINAL SUBGROUP* , 1989 .

[2]  Tore Opsahl,et al.  Clustering in weighted networks , 2009, Soc. Networks.

[3]  C. W. Dean,et al.  Onset Age and Offense Specialization , 1999 .

[4]  D. Farrington,et al.  Advancing Knowledge About Co-Offending: Results from a Prospective Longitudinal Survey of London Males , 1991 .

[5]  J. McGloin,et al.  IT WAS MY IDEA: CONSIDERING THE INSTIGATION OF CO-OFFENDING* , 2012 .

[6]  H. Snyder,et al.  SPECIALIZATION IN JUVENILE COURT CAREERS , 1988 .

[7]  Marcus Felson,et al.  The Impact of Co-Offending , 2010 .

[8]  P. Carrington.  CO‐OFFENDING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DELINQUENT CAREER* , 2009 .

[9]  A. Piquero,et al.  New frontiers in criminal careers research, 2000-2011: A state-of-the-art review , 2011 .

[10]  Mark Warr.  ORGANIZATION AND INSTIGATION IN DELINQUENT GROUPS , 1996 .

[11]  Carlo Morselli,et al.  Inside Criminal Networks , 2008 .

[12]  P. Tremblay.  Searching for Suitable Co-offenders , 2017 .

[13]  Alessandro Vespignani,et al.  Dynamical Processes on Complex Networks , 2008 .

[14]  J. McCord,et al.  Patterns of Juvenile Delinquency and Co-Offending , 2001 .

[15]  Alessandro Lomi,et al.  A model for the multiplex dynamics of two-mode and one-mode networks, with an application to employment preference, friendship, and advice , 2013, Soc. Networks.

[16]  Carlo Morselli,et al.  A method to detect criminal organizations from police data , 2016 .

[17]  Christopher J. Sullivan,et al.  Rethinking the "norm" of offender generality: Investigating specialization in the short-term , 2006 .

[18]  A. Piquero,et al.  On the Relationship between Co-Offending Network Redundancy and Offending Versatility , 2010 .

[19]  Carlo Morselli,et al.  CRIMINAL ACHIEVEMENT, OFFENDER NETWORKS AND THE BENEFITS OF LOW SELF‐CONTROL , 2004 .

[20]  A. Barabasi,et al.  Analysis of a large-scale weighted network of one-to-one human communication , 2007, physics/0702158.

[21]  Christopher J. Sullivan,et al.  Local Life Circumstances and Offending Specialization/Versatility , 2007 .

[22]  P. Gendreau,et al.  A META‐ANALYSIS OF THE PREDICTORS OF ADULT OFFENDER RECIDIVISM: WHAT WORKS!* , 1996 .

[23]  D. Wayne Osgood,et al.  A new method for studying the extent, stability, and predictors of individual specialization in violence , 2007 .

[24]  Carter T. Butts,et al.  4. A Relational Event Framework for Social Action , 2008 .

[25]  M. Bouchard,et al.  Groups, gangs, and delinquency: Does organization matter? , 2010 .

[26]  Tom A. B. Snijders,et al.  Introduction to stochastic actor-based models for network dynamics , 2010, Soc. Networks.

[27]  Stewart J. D'alessio,et al.  Co-Offending and the Age-Crime Curve , 2008 .

[28]  Robert Svensson,et al.  It's not the time they spend, it's what they do: The interaction between delinquent friends and unstructured routine activity on delinquency: Findings from two countries , 2010 .

[29]  Stanley Wasserman,et al.  Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications , 1994 .

[30]  Christy A. Visher,et al.  Specialization in juvenile careers: Markov results for a California cohort , 1994 .

[31]  Kimberly L. Kempf.  SPECIALIZATION AND THE CRIMINAL CAREER , 1987 .

[32]  A. Hirschman.  THE PATERNITY OF AN INDEX , 1964 .

[33]  Christopher J. Sullivan,et al.  INVESTIGATING THE STABILITY OF CO-OFFENDING AND CO-OFFENDERS AMONG A SAMPLE OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS* , 2008 .

[34]  John Skvoretz,et al.  Node centrality in weighted networks: Generalizing degree and shortest paths , 2010, Soc. Networks.

[35]  Brendan Lantz,et al.  Co-Offender Ties and the Criminal Career , 2015 .

[36]  A. Barabasi,et al.  Analysis of a large-scale weighted network of one-toone human communication , 2007 .

[37]  Mark Warr.  Companions in Crime: The Social Aspects of Criminal Conduct , 2002 .

[38]  T. Pitts,et al.  Religious programs, institutional adjustment, and recidivism among former inmates in prison fellowship programs , 1997 .

[39]  D. Farrington,et al.  Co-Offending, Age, Gender and Crime Type: Implications for Criminal Justice Policy , 2009 .

[40]  Christy A. Visher,et al.  Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways , 2003 .

[41]  Alex R. Piquero,et al.  Key Issues in Criminal Career Research: New Analyses of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development , 2007 .

[42]  A. Reiss,.  Co-Offending and Criminal Careers , 1988, Crime and Justice.

[43]  Martin A. Andresen,et al.  Co-Offending and the Diversification of Crime Types , 2012, International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology.

[44]  C. W. Dean,et al.  Onset Age, Persistence, and Offending Versatility: Comparisons Across Gender , 2000 .

[45]  B. Hodgson.  Co-Offending in UK Police Recorded Crime Data , 2007 .

[46]  Leonore M. J. Simon.  Do criminal offenders specialize in crime types , 1997 .

[47]  Michael Szell,et al.  Multirelational organization of large-scale social networks in an online world , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[48]  Christopher J. Sullivan,et al.  Detecting Specialization in Offending: Comparing Analytic Approaches , 2009 .