In:
Criminology & Criminal Justice, SAGE Publications, Vol. 10, No. 1 ( 2010-02), p. 23-36
Abstract:
Co-convictions are court convictions made at the same time as a more serious conviction. Their importance has been little recognized.We investigate their value using data on two separate serious crimes. Taking official conviction careers in England and Wales (1979—2001) for blackmail ( n = 5774) and kidnapping offenders ( n = 7291), we considered how much information on co-convictions is normally overlooked, and how knowledge of co-convictions contributes to predicting serious recidivism. We identified that co-convictions were pervasive, with 54 per cent of convictions for blackmail and 77 per cent for kidnapping having co-convictions. Co-convictions provided extra explanatory power in predicting the risk of a subsequent sexual or violent offence for both blackmail and kidnapping. For blackmail, most types of co-conviction were associated with a significantly raised relative risk, whereas for kidnapping, only co-convictions which were not acquisitive, sexual or violent had a significantly raised relative risk. We concluded that co-convictions are a useful measure of short-term specialization and are important when predicting serious recidivism.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1748-8958
,
1748-8966
DOI:
10.1177/1748895809352650
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2010
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2063005-0
SSG:
2
SSG:
2,1
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