Co-Offending Networks and Recidivism: Evidence from Norwegian Registry Data

• In Event: Gangs, Co-Offending, and Social Networks Across Space and Time

Abstract

The notion of crime as both a social phenomenon and a group phenomenon has long been acknowledged in criminological scholarship. In spite of this, network approaches that are specifically designed to answer questions about the characteristics, precursors and consequences of such social structures and relations are rarely applied. In this study I use Norwegian registry data to establish both global and ego-centric co-offending networks, in order to 1) provide a descriptive account of (global) co-offending networks in Norway as they appear in official registers, and 2) explore the relationship between both the presence and characteristics of (ego-centric) co-offending networks and individual reoffending. I distinguish between reoffenses committed alone, with accomplice(s) inside the current co-offending network and with accomplice(s) outside the co-offending network. The richness of the data makes it possible to follow both individuals and networks over time, as well as to explore variations in network characteristics and impacts across individual characteristics (such as age) and different crime types.

Author

• Synøve Nygaard Andersen, Statistics Norway