Violent Crime in a Brazilian Birth Cohort: Prevalence, Frequency, and Specialization up to Age 30 years

• In Event: Juvenile Delinquency and Adult Offending: Trends, Trajectories, and Measurement

Abstract

Background. Rates of violent crime are exceptionally high in Brazil, however, evidence about life-course crime patterns is very scarce in this context. This study aims to estimate the prevalence and frequency of violent crime in a large-scale Brazilian birth cohort, and to explore the level of specialization in violent crime. Method. A prospective, population-based, birth cohort study of 5,914 individuals born in Pelotas, Brazil in 1982. Criminal record searches were conducted up to age 30. We employed Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to identify offender subgroups based on the frequency of committing three types of crimes (i.e., serious-violence, moderate-violence, and non-violent offenses). Results and Conclusions. The prevalence of serious-violence was 7.8%, moderate-violence was 17.1%, and non-violent crime was 16.0%. There was evidence of three latent classes of offending behavior within male offenders. The first class is characterized by low-frequency versatile offending patterns, the second by moderately high-frequency versatile offending, and the third by high-frequency versatile offending. Females had two classes, both with low levels of serious violence. There was no evidence of specialized patterns of offending, rather versatile offending subgroups were found which were mainly differentiated by crime frequency. These findings provide critical insights into criminal behavior within a high-violence environment.

Authors

• Hugo Gomes, Human Development and Violence Research Centre, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil / School of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Porto

• Gemma Hammerton, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

• Rafaela Costa Martins, Human Development and Violence Research Centre, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil

• Andreas Bauer, Human Development and Violence Research Centre, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil

• Michelle Degli Esposti, Human Development and Violence Research Centre, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil / University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention

• Ludmila Ribeiro, Federal University of Minas Gerais

• Natália Lima, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

• Janaína Motta, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

• Bernardo Horta, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

• Joseph Murray, Human Development and Violence Research Centre, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil