U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

DRUG AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS OF URBAN OFFENDERS: A MARKOV CHAIN ANALYSIS

NCJ Number
148024
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 79-107
Author(s)
L E Pettiway; S Dolinsky; A Grigoryan
Date Published
1994
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Using a sample of 431 Philadelphia street criminals, this study investigated the relative importance of crime- and drug- related activities as dependent events in the offender's daily routine and to consider the significance of other types of activities on the participation of offenders in crime- and drug-related activities.
Abstract
A first-order Markov chain analysis revealed that offenders were not prone to remaining in a consistent activity state during their daily routines. However, offenders who participated in crime-related activities as well as social and recreational activities had higher probabilities of remaining in those states. Preparation, searching, and fencing activities comprised approximately 35 percent of the crime- related category; the probability of involvement in drug- related activities for these offenders was also high. The preliminary analysis from these data support the hypothesized interrelationship between drug use and crime. 6 tables, 5 notes, 79 references, and 1 appendix

Downloads

No download available

Availability