Does violence pay? Exploring the link between violence and illegal earnings

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

While human and social capital have been traditionally used to explain success and achievement in the legal job market, criminologists have demonstrated that these concepts can also be used to understand criminal achievement. Current research proposes that violence may be beneficial in particular circumstances; however, unnecessary and excessive violence may be detrimental to the economic goals of people who offend. The current study aims to explore this relationship by employing a random effects model to analyze changes in illegal earnings over time for a group of people who were actively committing crimes at the time of data collection, using violent crimes as a predictor. Findings may have significant implications for the ways in which we measure capital and achievement for people who offend.

Authors

• Naomi Zakimi, Simon Fraser University

• Frédéric Ouellet, Université de Montréal

• Martin Bouchard, Simon Fraser University

• Guisela Patard, Université de Montréal