Co-offending and the Persistence of Violence: A Dynamic Analysis

ConclusionsThe results show that co-offending promotes the transmission of violence but fail to support the internalization of violent behavior postulated by prior studies. We propose possible alternative mechanisms of violence transmission that operate through self-sustaining dynamics of violent co-offending within criminal groups. Although limited data on individual characteristics constrains interpretation, our results imply that violence transmission dynamics are independent from the individual characteristics of the co-offenders and more directly connected to group effects.
Source: Journal of Quantitative Criminology - Category: Criminology Source Type: research