The Decoupling of the Age-Gun Violence Curve

• In Event: NIJ-Supported Research Findings on Local Drivers and Long-term Trends in Urban Homicide

Abstract

The age-crime curve is composed of two parts: one for age-offenders and one for age-victims. Customarily the two curves look very similar. Here we show that the age-offender and age-victim curves for shootings in a large urban setting have gradually decoupled over the past two decades. Offenders are now substantially younger than their shooting victims for some subpopulations. We discuss the implications for the changing nature of violent crime.

Author

• Miguel Quintana-Navarrete, University of California, Irvine