ABSTRACT

Co-offending is endemic to delinquency. Yet the study of co-offending and its implications for theory and practice have a short history, a history to which Albert J. Reiss, Jr. made seminal contributions. In 1986, extending his consideration of co-offending, Reiss commented about the implications of group offending for potential intervention policies. Two patterns emerged. First, the probability of solo offending increased as a function of increasing age at offense. Second, the mix of co-offending with solo offending in relatively balanced proportions declined with age at offense. The division of offenders by their proclivity to co-offend revealed a consistent pattern. Juveniles tend to commit their crimes with others. The tendency for younger offenders to commit their crimes in groups gives an inflated estimate of the number of crimes for which they are responsible if a separate crime is counted for each member of a co-offending group. Co-offending delinquents tend to commit crimes at higher rates than do solo offenders.