Offense Specialization of Arrestees

Abstract

The data set employed in the present study came from interviews with arrestees conducted between 1999 and 2001 as well as from their official arrest records obtained from jail administrators. A total of 238 arrestees ages 18 to 25 constituted the final sample. Event history analysis examined each arrestee's movement from periods of no arrests to periods including arrests for any of four types of offense; background variables were controlled, and relevant time-varying factors became the explanatory factors. The results show a tendency among these arrestees to specialize, to varying degrees, in violent offenses, drug offenses, miscellaneous offenses, and property offenses. Evidence of versatility is presented. Anticrime measures are also discussed.

Patterns of Specialization and Escalation in the Criminal Careers of Gang and Non-Gang Homicide Offenders

“…Offense type refers to the crime recorded for each arrest in the offender’s criminal history. For each arrest, offense type was coded based on the most serious offense for each arrest, which is consistent with prior research (Blumstein et al, 1988; Lo et al, 2008). Given that broad offense categories are desirable in specialization and escalation research because too many offense categories can make it difficult for any significant patterns of specialization or escalation to emerge (Blumstein et al, 1988), crime type was divided into four categories: violent, property, drug, and miscellaneous (see Table 4 for description of offenses coded into each category).…”

Criminal Trajectories and Risk Factors in a Canadian Sample of Offenders

“…Ideally, programs and policies should be empirically based and theory driven. However, a limitation of the trajectory methodology is the absence of theory to guide analyses and interpretation of study findings (Lo et al, 2008). As a result, research results tend to be more exploratory and atheoretical, resulting in "a gap between theory and research" (Osgood, 2005, p. 202).…”

“…It is the pattern of transition and stability on these sorts of variables across different developmental periods, as well as the underlying reasons for the observed patterns, that are of interest to researchers, theoreticians, practitioners, and policy makers (Barnett, Blumstein, & Farrington, 1987;Piquero & Mazerolle, 2001). For example, much has been learned from studies conducted within a criminal career paradigm regarding changes by age in crime type (Steffensmeier, Allan, Harer, & Streifel, 1989), versatility (Britt, 1996;Lo, Kim, & Cheng, 2008;McGloin, Sullivan, Piquero, & Pratt, 2007), severity (Ramchand, MacDonald, Haviland, & Morral, 2009), and criminal career length (Elliot, Huizinga, & Morse, 1987;LeBlanc & Frechette, 1989;Piquero, Brame, & Lynam, 2004) as well as the stability of offending across major developmental life periods (Day et al, 2007;Paternoster, Brame, & Farrington, 2001;Piquero, Brame, & Moffitt, 2005;Piquero & Buka, 2002). Recently, studies also have examined the dynamic interplay between criminal career dimensions, such as offending frequency and offending diversity (Brame, Paternoster, & Bushway, 2004;Monahan & Piquero, 2009).…”

Parsing apart the persisters: Etiological mechanisms and criminal offense patterns of moderate- and high-level persistent offenders

“…Moderate-level persistent offenders may be a unique subgroup of persisters whose criminal catalogue is restrained to certain types of offenses. Prior research suggests that in adulthood, some offenders specialize in violent, drug-related, and property crimes (Baker, Metcalfe, & Jennings, 2013; Lo, Kim, & Cheng, 2008), but it is unknown if moderate-level persisters specialize in one of these types of crimes, more than one type of these crimes, or none of these crimes. Given our sample was followed until 25 years of age (well into the years when specialization is posited to occur), the current study is poised to clarify if there is heterogeneity in persisting offenders' criminal specialization.…”