Explaining Various Trajectories of Illicit Earnings Over Time

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Although it is generally recognized that many individuals engage in illegal activities for monetary purposes, few studies have actually focused on criminal earnings. Aiming to develop comprehensive models of success, studies on criminal achievement suggest that a non-negligible portion of offenders is able to reap important benefits from crime, but that great disparities in pecuniary gains exist between them over time. These studies highlight the role played by individual characteristics and life circumstances on the attainment of criminal earnings. However, the models proposed thus far consider an overall stability in the criminal earnings offenders gather over time. The present study aims to examine whether varying trajectories of illicit earnings exist among a sample of 172 inmates interviewed in Canadian federal prisons, and to uncover the factors predicting membership in these pathways. Based on group-based trajectory modeling, results reveal the presence of four distinct trajectories of illegal earnings over a three-year period. Individual characteristics (age of onset and low self-control) were found to have limited predictive power over criminal earning trajectory group membership. Results highlight the role played by the presence of a mentor on the future unraveling of criminal earnings attainment: having a mentor was associated with more efficient offending.

Authors

• Odrée Blondin, Université de Montréal

• Dominique Laferrière, Université de Montréal

• Frédéric Ouellet, Université de Montréal