Citation

Weerman FM. Br. J. Criminol. 2003; 43(2): 398-416.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/bjc/43.2.398

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studies in the past have already revealed some interesting characteristics of co-offending, but relatively little attention has been paid to explaining them. This paper is focused on the explanation of these characteristics. A comprehensive theory is proposed, based on the idea that co-offending may be viewed as an event in which material and immaterial goods are exchanged. The basic concepts of such a social exchange theory are formulated in this article, and a causal model based on this theory is deduced. The paper also shows how the proposed theory may explain the well-known characteristics of co-offending.