Guest speaker : Marie Ouellet
Marie Ouellet is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre International de Criminologie Comparée. Her research focuses on the intersection of social networks, the criminal career, and group trajectories.
Summary
Only a minority of criminal groups persist for any length of time. Yet, we know little about what separates the groups who endure from those who end. The current study relies on a two-wave offender driven sample of 10,145 gang affiliates active from 2001 to 2009, to examine variation in group longevity. The study maps the social structure of groups embedded in the street gang landscape, and then identifies and compares groups who persist from those who end.
Findings emphasize that groups who persist adopt age-graded structures, bridging veterans with new members, and are more criminally productive. Lastly, results support the role of social organization in a group’s survival. Groups more deeply embedded within the wider gang structure, with multiple ties to neighboring groups, and less connected internally survived longer.
Conférence présentée par le Centre international de criminologie comparée
