Terror on Repeat

Abstract

Criminal and terrorist organizations often depend on repeat offenders to maintain the group’s longevity, especially after repeated law enforcement interventions. Yet, little is known about the offenders who perpetrate multiple incidents on behalf of a group. Relying on data for 118 terrorist offenders involved across eight attacks from 2000 to 2005, this study examines the correlates of repeat offending within a terrorist organization. Our main predictor, criminal social capital, is measured by the number and structure of co-offending ties. Poisson regression results demonstrate that offenders with a higher number of connections are more likely to be involved in multiple attacks; while offenders positioned as brokers—bridging otherwise unconnected others—are less likely to reoffend. In addition, being a leader and graduate education was associated with repeat offending. These findings suggest that selection is based on more than an offender’s skill set but also on their embeddedness within the group.