Organizing crime: A classificatory scheme based on offense transitions

An approach to classification of major offenses and of offenders based on regularities of transition among offenses is examined in a construction sample of 1523 male recidivists and a validation sample of 5636 male recidivists. Results indicate that the category of prior offense is a moderately efficient predictor of the category of subsequent offense. Categories resembling person and property groupings found in earlier cluster analyses are also found here. Classificatory schemes based on regularities in transitions among offenses may offer a useful research tool.