The concept of collective trajectory published by InSight Crime

InSight Crime (https://insightcrime.org), an organization focused on organized crime issues in the Americas, has published two articles on the concept of collective trajectory. The concept of collective trajectory was developed by Prof. Piotr Chomczyński and his collaborators from the United States and Mexico.

The first article discusses the recruitment methods employed by criminal organizations in Mexico to attract new members. The second article takes the form of an interview with Professor Chomczyński, in which he explains the concept of collective trajectory and relates it to current trends in Mexican organized crime.

About the concept of collective trajectory

Dr. hab. Piotr Chomczyński, Prof. UŁ (University of Łódź, Academy of Applied Sciences in Pila), in collaboration with:

• Roger S. Guy (State University of New York at Oswego Department of Criminal Justice, United States),
• Timothy Clark (University of Texas at El Paso's Department of Criminal Justice, United States),
• Elena Azaola (Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Mexico),
• Rodrigo Cortina Cortez (independent researcher from Mexico), has developed a new criminological concept called collective trajectory. The concept emerged from several years of field research conducted by Prof. Piotr Chomczyński in Latin American countries (Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras). The collective trajectory explains, at a theoretical level, the phenomenon of young people joining criminal organizations within the cultural realities of Latin America.

This concept will be tested in six Latin American countries (Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil, Chile) as part of the four-year international scientific project CRIMLA, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, in which Prof. Chomczyński has been participating since 2021. The project is coordinated by Prof. Sveinung Sandberg from the University of Oslo.

The concept of collective trajectory has been published in major international and Polish criminological journals, such as:

• Justice Quarterly, British Journal of Criminology, Current Sociology, International Sociology, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Global Crime.
• Archiwum Kryminologii (Criminology Archives), a chapter in the criminology textbook published by PWN, edited by Piotr Chomczyński, Przymysław Frąckowiak (ANS in Pila), and Dagmara Woźniakowska-Fajst (PAN, UW).