ORGANIZATION AND INSTIGATION IN DELINQUENT GROUPS

The group character of delinquency has been recognized for more than 6 0 years, but the nature of delinquent groups remains poorly understood . Data from the National Survey of Youth are used to examine delinquen t groups, with special attention to the identity and role of instigato rs in those groups. Delinquent groups are small and transitory, but of fenders commonly belong to multiple groups and thus have a larger netw ork or pool of accomplices. Groups appear to be more specialized than individuals, which suggests that offense specialization is the primary source of group differentiation. Most delinquent groups have an ident ifiable instigator, a person who tends to be older, move experienced, and emotionally close to other members. Males almost always follow oth er males, whereas females are much more likely to follow a member of t he opposite sex. As a rule, offenders do not consistently assume the v ole of instigator or joiner over time, but instead switch from one rol e to the other depending on their relative position in the group in wh ich they are participating at the time. The roles that offenders adopt ave thus determined, not by some stable individual trait, but by the situational interaction of group and individual characteristics.