All Offenders Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others: Variation In Journeys To Crime Between Offenders

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Townsley, Michael
Sidebottom, Aiden
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)

Prof Denise Gottfredson

Date
2010
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

The results of this study reveal a major methodological problem with an established body of criminological literature-the journey to crime. The dominant finding of such research is that most crimes occur close to an offender's home. Consequently, journeys to crime typically display a distance-decay function that is assumed to exist between and within offenders. However, most journey-to-crime studies use nested data-individual offenders contributing multiple crime trips-yet employ analytic methods that fail to account for this property, leading to inference and aggregation concerns. In the study outlined in this article, we demonstrated the implications of using nested data for analyzing the journey to crime. We showed that once controlling for nesting, only a few (prolific) offenders display a distance decay pattern. Implications of the findings for theory and future research are discussed.

Journal Title

Criminology

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

48

Issue

3

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

Self-archiving of the author-manuscript version is not yet supported by the American Society of Criminology. Please refer to the journal link for access to the definitive, published version or contact the author for more information.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Criminology

Police administration, procedures and practice

Applied ethics

Philosophy

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections