Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Although there have been several studies documenting offending trajectories and their covariates, this line of research has been primarily focused among street offenders. In this paper, we examine offending trajectories among a sample of white-collar crime offenders, and also examine how the trajectories are distinguished according to demographic and situationally-based offense characteristics. Our trajectory-based analysis identified three different offending trajectories, with several variables distinguishing between the trajectory classifications. Theoretical implications and future research directions are outlined.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this research we examine the trajectory patterns of all terrorist organizations with more than one year of activity or at least ten attacks from 1970 to 1997. By applying Nagin’s Group-Based Trajectory Method to terrorist organizations we are able, for the first time, to observe the different life-course patterns of terrorist organizations. However, because terrorist organizations differ considerably from the individuals for whom this method was designed, we apply two approaches to measuring the “age” of the organization. First, since terrorism is often expressed within a specific global context, we set “age” of the organization according to calendar time. This strategy offers insight into existing theories on “waves” of terrorism. Second, we examine the patterns of terrorism apart from the global context and set the “birth” of the terrorist organization to the year of first attack. Each strategy offers a unique contribution to our understanding of the life-course of terrorism organizations.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: Restorative Justice (RJ) evaluations typically rely on first-time offenders or a mix of offenders as subjects. The effect of RJ derives from the aggregate of all offenders in treatment vs. control. Little attention has been given to RJ as an intervention for different developmental pathways of offending behavior. Does the impact of RJ on offending vary depending on the point of one's criminal career path? Using data from the Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE), we will identify trajectories of offending among the youth experiments, prior to random assignment. We will then examine the impact of RJ, relative to formal court processing, on official offending among the identified offending trajectories. Policy recommendations for the use of RJ will be offered.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This project expands current social disorganization research to further explore the relationship between neighborhood residential stability and violent crime over time. Using data from Los Angeles between 1992 and 1997, I estimate a multivariate latent curve model of the change in the violent crime rate and the change in the rate of home sales while controlling for neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, including potential interactions between race/ethnicity and crime, and race/ethnicity and sales. The use of trajectory models provides a more thorough examination of the years under study than current longitudinal methodology, and can more accurately account for the nonlinearity of change over time. Preliminary results indicate that the initial rate of violent crime significantly and positively predicts subsequent changes in the rate of home sales, but that the rate of home sales has no impact on changes in the rate of violent crime over. The interaction between the proportion Latino population and the rate of home sales, however, is a significant predictor of increases in violent crime over time. The results suggest that race and ethnicity have differential impacts on neighborhoods. The results also suggest that the interaction between the size of the African American population and the violent crime rate is significantly associated with higher rates of change in residential home sales.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed