Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency 48(3)

Gang Set Space, Drug Markets, and Crime around Drug Corners in Camden
Travis A. Taniguchi, Jerry H. Ratcliffe, and Ralph B. Taylor

Gang set space is defined as ‘‘the actual area within the neighborhood where gang members come together as a gang’’ (Tita, Cohen, and Engberg 2005:280). The current article examines one subarea of gang set space: where gangs maintain street corner-centered open-air drug markets. Two types of corners—corner markets dominated by one gang and corner markets with multiple gangs—were contrasted with one another and with non-gang, non-dealing corners. Functional and corporate perspectives on gangs would both predict single gang corner markets to have lower violent and property crime than non-gang corners, whereas a traditional view would predict more violence. Territorial and economic competition models expect the highest crime levels around corner markets occupied by multiple gangs. Using Thiessen polygons to define the sphere of influence of each corner, and controlling for community demographic fabric and nearby crime, results showed higher crime counts around space used for drug distribution and higher still when the set space was occupied by multiple drug gangs. Further, crime counts were higher in less stable locales. The portions of drug gang set space centered on small, known, open-air corner drug markets, especially when control is questioned, link to more crime.

Gang Membership and Race as Risk Factors for Juvenile Arrest
Michael Tapia

This study addresses the link between gang membership and arrest frequency, exploring the Gang × Race interaction on those arrests. The focus on youth’s earliest point of contact with the juvenile justice system corresponds to the latest priority of the federal initiative on Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). Using Poisson regression to analyze longitudinal data on a representative sample of U.S. teens, results support both main effects and interaction hypotheses. Gang membership, racial minority status, and their interaction each increase the risk of arrest, controlling for other demographic and legal items. Results suggest that bias against these groups is most pronounced with less serious crimes. Main effects for Black youth are stronger than for Hispanic youth, underscoring the importance of conducting tests for each minority group separately. Interactions for Black and Hispanic gang youth are equally robust, suggesting they warrant similar priority in policy initiatives to reduce DMC.

Theft in Price-Volatile Markets: On the Relationship between Copper Price and Copper Theft
Aiden Sidebottom, Jyoti Belur, Kate Bowers, Lisa Tompson, and Shane D. Johnson

Recently, against a backdrop of general reductions in acquisitive crime, increases have been observed in the frequency of metal theft offences. This is generally attributed to increases in metal prices in response to global demand exceeding supply. The main objective of this article was to examine the relationship between the price of copper and levels of copper theft, focusing specifically on copper cable theft from the British railway network. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between lagged increases in copper price and copper cable theft. No support was found for rival hypotheses concerning U.K. unemployment levels and the general popularity of theft as crime type. An ancillary aim was to explore offender modus operandi over time, which is discussed in terms of its implications for preventing copper cable theft. The authors finish with a discussion of theft of other commodities in price-volatile markets.

Influence or Convenience? Disentangling Peer Influence and Co-offending for Chronic offenders
Jean Marie McGloin and Wendy Povitsky Stickle

Both developmental and propensity theories root the etiology of chronic offending in factors other than peer influence. This does not mean that peers have no role in the expression of chronic offending, however. For instance, scholars have noted that offending with accomplices (i.e., co-offending) can reflect processes other than normative influence, such as selection and cooperation. Drawing from these notions, this investigation hypothesizes that chronic offenders will be less likely to cite peer influence as a reason for their deviance when compared to other offenders, whereas they will be equally likely to engage in group offending. The analysis uses information from the Racine cohort data and the results support the hypothesis. The discussion considers the implications of these findings for theory and research, as well as provides directions for future work.

Are Similar Sex Offenders Treated Similarly? A Conjunctive Analysis of Disparities in Community Notification Decisions
Deborah Koetzle Shaffer and Terance D. Miethe

Using a sample of sex offenders in the state of Washington, the current study examines the nature and magnitude of disparities in notification decisions among distinct groups of sex offenders. The method of conjunctive analysis is used to describe the extent to which similar types of sex offenders (i.e., groups of sex offenders that share similar sets of risk factors for re-offending) are treated similarly in notification decisions. The observed patterns of widespread disparities in these decisions among distinct composite profiles of sex offenders are then discussed in terms of their implications for future research on evaluating disparity in criminal processing, the collateral consequences of notification decisions, and ongoing public policy on the control and management of sex offenders.

Examining Juvenile Delinquency within Activity Space: Building a Context for Offender Travel Patterns
Gisela Bichler, Jill Christie-Merrall, and Dale Sechrest

Researchers modeling offender travel patterns typically assume that crime locations are well within the offenders’ activity space. Using information about the places frequented by 2,563 delinquent youths residing in Southern California, this study examined distances traveled to delinquent and nondelinquent hangout locations. Travel to known delinquent sites was substantively farther from home than expected and exhibited a segmented nonlinear curve, joining logarithmic and negative exponential functions. Significant variation was found for place-specific (trip distance) and person-specific (individual travel) distances by city classification, travel method, and age cohort; age effects disappeared in multivariate analyses. Several implications follow, highlighting the need to infuse a place-oriented approach to studying journey-to-crime.

Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, August 2011: Volume 48, Issue 3