Criminal Careers and Immigration: An Analysis of Offending Over the Life Course Among Homicide Inmates in Texas

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine differences in patterns of criminal arrests between US citizens and foreign citizens among a sample of individuals incarcerated for homicide in Texas. Data for this project come from administrative records of inmates incarcerated in Texas for homicide. Drawing from the criminal careers literature, official arrest records are assessed to compare differences in criminal histories with growth curve models for the examination of criminal careers of non-Texas born US citizens and foreign citizens. Notable findings are that the age-crime curves are remarkably similar between the two groups, but the curves differ in degree, with those of US citizens peaking significantly higher across all crime types examined.