The terrorist age‐crime curve: An analysis of American Islamist terrorist offenders and age‐specific propensity for participation in violent and nonviolent incidents

• NCJ Number: 304901
• Journal: Social Science Quarterly Volume: 97 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2016 Pages: 19-32
• Author(s): Jytte Klausen; Tyler Morrill; Rosanne Libretti
• Date Published: March 2016
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-ZA-BX-0006
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
• Corporate Author: Brandeis University
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines the age-crime relationship among terrorist offenders.

Abstract

This study relies on a data set of over 600 American terrorism offenders inspired by one of three Islamist groups: Hamas, Hezbollah, or Al Qaeda. We find that the pattern of violent Islamist crime in the United States departs from the standard age-crime curve in significant ways. Violent action among terrorist offenders peaks at a later age and occurs across a broader age range than is the case for ordinary violent crimes. (Publisher Abstract)