This research note contrasts 19th- and 20th-century New York City age- and gender-specific offender rates. Earlier work has established that there is a peakedness in age-specific offending between 20 and 30, whereas more recent data show a much younger high offending rate. In sharp contrast, the 19th-century New York data show a relatively flat distribution from the early 20s onward. This suggests that the current age rates are a new phenomenon and that young offenders are a separate, nontraditional group, overlaid onto the more traditional age groups.
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