Carjacking, Streetlife and Offender Motivation

Jacobs, Bruce A.; Topalli, Volkan; Wright, Richard

doi:10.1093/bjc/43.4.673

Cited by 93 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Consequently, the motivation to offend is an almost constant presence amongst these individuals, which leads to a high frequency of offending and, therefore, short temporal proximity values. Furthermore, social status is vitally important amongst these offenders and many are willing to engage in violent behavior to maintain that status; particularly when they perceive it to be under threat (Jacobs et al, 2003). This motivation, when combined with the high level of intoxication these offenders often experience, means that they also engage in frequent violent offending as well as frequent property-related offending.…”

Section: Behavioral Case Linkagementioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Different Types of Crime Using Geographical and Temporal Proximity

Tonkin

Woodhams

Bull

et al. 2011

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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In the absence of forensic evidence (such as DNA or fingerprints), offender behavior can be used to identify crimes that have been committed by the same person (referred to as behavioral case linkage). The current study presents the first empirical test of whether it is possible to link different types of crime using simple aspects of offender behavior. The discrimination accuracy of the kilometer-distance between offense locations (the intercrime distance) and the number of days between offenses (temporal proximity) was examined across a range of crimes, including violent, sexual and property-related offenses. Both the intercrime distance and temporal proximity were able to achieve statistically significant levels of discrimination accuracy that were comparable across and within crime types and categories. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research. Keywords ProximityOne of the most compelling and well-supported findings in criminology is that the majority of crime is committed by a minority of offenders (e.g. Kershaw, Nicholas, & Walker, 2008;Laub, 2004;Piquero, Farrington, & Blumstein, 2007). In the United States (US), for example, estimates suggest that approximately 5% of offenders are responsible for 30% of felony convictions (Office of the Legislative Auditor, 2001). Findings such as these suggest that an effective way for the police to tackle and reduce crime is to target serial and repeat offenders who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime.Targeting serial offenders specifically, however, requires the police to identify serial offenses (referred to hereafter as linked crime series), which are essentially two or more crimes committed by the same offender or the same group of offenders (Woodhams, Hollin, & Bull, 2007). The most reliable way of identifying linked crime series is through the recovery of forensic evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, left at the scenes of several different crimes (Grubin, Kelly, & Brunsdon, 2001). However, despite the impression that television programs such as CSI create, the availability of forensic evidence is surprisingly limited, with less than 1% of recorded crimes yielding such evidence (House of Commons, 2005). Therefore, the police often need to rely on other approaches to linking crime. One potential alternative is to use behavioral similarity, whereby crimes that show evidence of similar offender behavior are judged to have been committed by the same offender/s (referred to as linked crimes), whereas those that involve different behavior are said to have been committed by different offenders Running head: Linking Different Types of Crime 3 (referred to as unlinked crimes). This procedure is known by several names, including linkage analysis and comparative case analysis, but the term behavioral case linkage will be used in the current paper. Behavioral Case LinkageBehavioral case linkage is an investigative procedure that has received growing attention both prac...

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Section: Behavioral Case Linkagementioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Different Types of Crime Using Geographical and Temporal Proximity

Tonkin

Woodhams

Bull

et al. 2011

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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“…Heterogeneity's impacts suggest underlying micro-level processes at work in the target neighborhoods, whereas impacts of surrounding MVT rates suggest processes and spatial patterning organized or playing out at a larger spatial level, such as a sector of the city. Work by Jacobs et al (2003), Cherbonneau and Copes (2005), and Copes (2003aCopes ( , 2003b examining micro-level offender behavioral processes provides a promising bridge for this next phase of research. These two dynamics, in the community and around it, can be folded together into a multilevel criminal circumstance model (Wilcox et al 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Decade-Long Changes in Community Motor Vehicle Theft Rates

Walsh

Taylor

2007

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

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Motor vehicle theft (MVT) is arguably the most underresearched Part I crime. This work predicts long-term changes in community MVT rates, extrapolating from earlier work in community fabric and changing personal crime and delinquency rates and cross-sectional work on MVT. Police data on MVTs generated MVT rates in one Midwestern city in 1990-1991 and 2000-2001 that were linked with census block group data. MVT rates went up later in communities more racially mixed initially and in those surrounded by initially higher MVT rates, suggesting extant community structure and surrounding crime generate subsequently unfolding impacts on MVT. A second series of models links changing MVT rates with contemporaneously increasing racial heterogeneity, decreasing community instability, and increasing surrounding MVT rates. Some associations between community structure and changing delinquency or crime appear relevant to shifting MVT rates. Resident-based, target-linked, and offender-dependent processes to be investigated are outlined.

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“…Beyond that, the internal validity of these kinds of data and procedures has been exhaustively addressed in previous research and need not be fully restated here (see, for example, Jacobs et al 2000Jacobs et al , 2003Jacobs and Wright, 1999;Maher, 1997;Topalli et al, 2002;Topalli and Wright, 2004;Wright and Decker, 1997).…”

Section: Issues Of Internal Validitymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Such offenders spend as much as they have, as quickly as possible. The constant need for cash, drugs, and alcohol to "keep the party going"-combined with careless spending habits-leads offenders to participate in serious crime to bankroll their impulsive lifestyles (Katz, 1988;Jacobs, 2000;Jacobs et al, 2003Jacobs et al, , 2000Shover, 1996;Shover and Honaker, 1992;Topalli et al, 2002;Decker, 1997, 1994).…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

"Might Not Be a Tomorrow": A Multi-Methods Approach to Anticipated Early Death and Youth Crime

Brezina

Tekin

Topalli

2008

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A number of researchers point to the anticipation of early death, or a sense of "futurelessness," as a contributing factor to youth crime and violence. Young people who perceive a high probability of early death, it is argued, may have little reason to delay gratification for the promise of future benefits, as the future itself is discounted. Consequently, these young people tend to pursue high-risk behaviors associated with immediate rewards, including crime and violence. Although existing studies lend empirical support to these arguments and show a statistical relationship between anticipated early death and youth crime, this support remains tentative. Moreover, a number of questions remain regarding the interpretation of this relationship, the meanings that offenders attach to the prospect of early death, and the causal mechanisms that link anticipated early death to youth crime. In this paper, we address the limitations of previous studies using a multi-methods approach, involving the analyses of national survey data and in-depth interviews with active street offenders. "MIGHT NOT BE A TOMORROW": A MULTI-METHODS APPROACH TO ANTICIPATED EARLY DEATH AND YOUTH CRIMEPrior criminological research has served to highlight the risks of offending behavior.These risks include a number of long-term negative consequences that may accrue to offenders over the life course, including reduced life chances, poor health, and incarceration (Hagan, 1991(Hagan, , 1997Moffitt, 1993;Robins, 1966; Laub 1993, 1997;Tanner, Davies, and O'Grady, 1999). These risks also include immediate physical dangers-such as injury, paralysis, or death-that exist in the "foreground" of the criminal lifestyle and that may result from crime victim retaliation, attacks by rival offenders, or police action (Dobrin, 2001;Hoffman, 2004;Jacobs, Topalli, and Wright, 2000;McCarthy and Hagan, 2005; Sampson and Lauritsen, 2005;Topalli, Wright, and Fornango, 2002;Tremblay and Paré, 2003).At the same time, criminological research has highlighted the existence of hard-core offenders who appear to be fearless in the face of these dangers (Anderson, 1994(Anderson, , 1999Hoffman, 2004;Jacobs et al., 2000;McCarthy and Hagan, 2005;Topalli, 2005a). This population includes individuals who have experienced stabbings, shootings, or other lifethreatening injuries and yet remain undeterred from a risky and criminal lifestyle (Hoffman, 2004). In the words of one such offender, "I don't give a damn. I don't care what happens really… whether they kill us or we kill them" (Topalli and Wright, 2004: 164).To account for the fearless and uninhibited conduct of some offenders, a number of theorists have underscored the sense of hopelessness and fatalism that is said to pervade economically distressed, high-crime communities (Anderson, 1994(Anderson, , 1999Garbarino et al., 1992;Kitwana, 2002;Lorion and Saltzman, 1993;Wilson and Daly, 1997). When young people believe they have no future, it is argued, they have little to lose by engaging in crime or violence.This argument ...

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Carjacking, Streetlife and Offender Motivation

Cited by 93 publications

References 22 publications

Linking Different Types of Crime Using Geographical and Temporal Proximity

Linking Different Types of Crime Using Geographical and Temporal Proximity

Predicting Decade-Long Changes in Community Motor Vehicle Theft Rates

"Might Not Be a Tomorrow": A Multi-Methods Approach to Anticipated Early Death and Youth Crime

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