Specialization in Violence: Evidence of a Criminal Subgroup

• NCJ Number: 122643
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1989) Pages: 437-453
• Author(s): P Brennan; S Mednick; R John
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): 87-IJ-CX-0063
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study tests the hypothesis that specialization exists for violent offending by examining the criminal arrest records of a Danish birth cohort of 28,884 men.

Abstract

For offenders with more than three arrests, specialization in violence is found to exist. For offenders with fewer than four arrests, specialization in property offending was found to exist. The paper discusses knowledge of past violent offending as a potentially valuable part of the predictive equation of future violence. 2 figures, 4 tables, 24 references. (Author abstract modified)