Using crime data over a period of a decade for Glasgow, this paper explores whether the
density of prior offenders in a neighbourhoods has an influence on the propensity of others to
(re)commence offending. The study shows that the number of ‘newly active’ offenders in a
neighbourhood in the current quarter is positively associated with the density of prior
offenders for both violent and property crime from the previous two years. In the case of
‘newly active’ property offenders, the relationship with active prior offenders is only
apparent when prior offender counts exceed the median. The paper postulates that intraneighbourhood
social mechanisms may be at work to create these effects. The results suggest
that policies which concentrate offenders in particular neighbourhoods may increase the
number of ‘newly active’ offenders, and point to evidence of a threshold at which these
effects take place