Historical Co-offending Networks: A Social Network Analysis Approach

Grace Di Méo

The British Journal of Criminology, 2023, vol. 63, issue 6, 1591-1611

Abstract: Recent decades have witnessed growing use of social network analysis (SNA) to study criminal activities, including that of co-offending. However, few studies have examined co-offending networks within a historical context. This paper focuses on group-based crime in a large English town during the Victorian period, employing SNA methods to examine the prevalence, structure and composition of co-offending relationships. Networks for property, violent and victimless crimes were partitioned to compare co-offending across crime categories. Results indicate that co-offending groups were typically segregated, although there was a loosely-organised community of property crime offenders connected by ‘brokers’ who collaborated with multiple groups. Evidence also suggests that co-offending was largely characterised by assortative mixing in regard to sex, age and marital status.

Keywords: co-offending; criminal networks; illicit networks; group crime; NetworkX; historical criminology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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