NCJ Number
134331
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 82 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1991) Pages: 360-395
Date Published
1991
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Data from a prospective longitudinal study of offending by a cohort of 411 London males followed up in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development was used to determine whether control, differential association, or group selection theories make the correct deductions about the role of co-offending in delinquent and criminal behavior.
Abstract
The incidence of co-offending, persons acting together to commit a crime, decreased with age primarily because individual offenders change and become less likely to offend with others rather than because of selective attrition of co-offenders or persistence of those who offend primarily solo. As male ages, they were more likely to offend alone, but most males continued to commit some offenses with others. Exclusive solo offending or exclusive co-offending behavior was uncommon at all ages, but there was a significant tendency for specialization in either solo or co-offending. The likelihood of recidivism was slightly less after offenses committed alone than with co-offenders. 49 footnotes, 11 tables, and 1 figure