Criminal Careers and Gang Membership: A Trajectory Analysis of Offending Over the Life-course

• In Event: Gangs and Prison: Emerging Evidence on Misconduct, Gang Organizational Structure, Criminal Careers, Gang Embeddedness, and Recidivism from the LoneStar Project

Abstract

While changes in the life course and patterns of criminal offending over time have been an important line of inquiry for criminologists, developments in methodologies and statistical techniques have allowed for the examination of criminal trajectories, including how they might differ for groups of individuals and the factors that might influence the shape of those trajectories. Drawing from the criminal careers literature, the current study examines the criminal careers of gang and non-gang members. Data for this project come from the LoneStar Project, the Study of Trajectories, Associations, and Reentry, a study of 802 inmates interviewed prior to their release from prison. Self-report and official arrest records of gang and non-gang members will be assessed to compare differences in criminal histories as well as to determine whether distinct groups of offending patterns emerge based on a comprehensive set of relevant factors. Specifically, group-based trajectory modeling will be employed to plot the developmental trajectories of the respondents to better understand what factors account for group membership, and how gang membership influences those trajectories.

Authors

• Erin Orrick, Sam Houston State University

• Scott Decker, Arizona State University

• David Pyrooz, University of Colorado Boulder