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Abstract
In a previous study, we found that solo-offending was the primary form of offending among all ages including juveniles. We also observed that the relationship between age and crime, notwithstanding whether it was co-offending or solo-offending, was invariant across sex, race, and offense type. Based on these results, we concluded that group offending was merely incidental in circumstance and thus of little etiological significance. Zimring and Laqueur take exception to our study. Their reanalysis of our data disaggregated by offense type showed that co-offending was the dominant form of offending among juveniles for most serious crimes. However, as we discuss in this commentary, there are a number of problems with Zimring and Laqueur’s offense-specific analysis that invalidates their findings and conclusions.
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Notes
* Our commentary on Zimring and Laqueur’s (Citation2015) study was originally submitted to the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, but the journal’s Editor rejected it without external review. We would like to thank the Editor of the Journal of Crime and Justice for publishing our commentary in the interest of academic discourse.
1. Approximately 32% of the juvenile co-offending Part I crime incidents involved at least one adult arrestee as a participant. Juvenile co-offending is defined as any co-offending crime incident that had at least one juvenile arrestee as a participant.
2. We would not place too much faith in the findings generated for arson because many fire departments do not report to the FBI, and those that do define many fires probably set by arsonists as accidental or spontaneous (Jackson Citation1988). We also know of no theories claiming that group offending among juveniles only pertains to the crime of arson.