Offense specialization among outlaw motorcycle gang members: Comparing specialization metrics

IF 3.3 1区社会学 Q1 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Journal of Criminal Justice Pub Date : 2024-09-30 DOI:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102296

Heather Wolbers, Timothy Cubitt, Anthony Morgan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

We examine the extent of offense specialization among outlaw motorcycle gang affiliates across Australia using a multi-metric approach, and by doing so compare diverse measures of specialization.

Methods

The sample consisted of 19,633 offenses, committed by 2283 affiliates of outlaw motor cycle gangs (OMCGs), disaggregated into four offense categories: ongoing criminal enterprise, short-term instrumental, violence and intimidation, and other offenses against person. Six specialization metrics were employed to measure specialization among the full sample of affiliates and relevant subgroups.

Results

Of the six metrics employed to measure specialization, five suggested a high degree of versatility in offending among OMCG affiliates. Results were inconsistent across metrics when examining levels of specialization among subgroups of OMCG affiliates, and across offense categories.

Conclusions

OMCGs are highly versatile in their offending, demonstrating the importance of interventions targeting organized, violent and lower-level volume crime. However, different measures of specialization yielded inconsistent results and appeared to be measuring different constructs. The suitability of metrics is dependent on the nature of the data and research question of interest. Future specialization research should employ a multi-metric approach to thoroughly explore specialization and improve the ability for cross study comparisons.

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非法摩托车团伙成员的犯罪专业化：比较专业化指标

目的我们采用多指标方法研究了澳大利亚非法摩托帮派附属组织的犯罪专业化程度，并以此比较了不同的专业化衡量标准。方法样本由非法摩托帮派（OMCGs）的2283名附属组织成员所犯的19633起罪行组成，分为四个犯罪类别：正在进行的犯罪活动、短期工具性犯罪、暴力和恐吓以及其他侵犯人身的犯罪。结果在用于衡量专业化程度的六个指标中，有五个指标表明，OMCG 附属团伙的犯罪具有高度的多样性。在研究OMCG附属机构子群体的专业化水平以及不同犯罪类别的专业化水平时，不同指标的结果并不一致。然而，不同的专业化衡量标准得出的结果并不一致，而且似乎在衡量不同的结构。衡量标准的适用性取决于数据的性质和感兴趣的研究问题。未来的专业化研究应采用多指标方法来深入探讨专业化问题，并提高交叉研究比较的能力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Criminal Justice CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY-

CiteScore

6.90

自引率

9.10%

发文量

审稿时长

23 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Criminal Justice is an international journal intended to fill the present need for the dissemination of new information, ideas and methods, to both practitioners and academicians in the criminal justice area. The Journal is concerned with all aspects of the criminal justice system in terms of their relationships to each other. Although materials are presented relating to crime and the individual elements of the criminal justice system, the emphasis of the Journal is to tie together the functioning of these elements and to illustrate the effects of their interactions. Articles that reflect the application of new disciplines or analytical methodologies to the problems of criminal justice are of special interest. Since the purpose of the Journal is to provide a forum for the dissemination of new ideas, new information, and the application of new methods to the problems and functions of the criminal justice system, the Journal emphasizes innovation and creative thought of the highest quality.