NCJ Number
55658
Date Published
1977
Length
77 pages
Annotation
TO OBTAIN A COMPREHENSIVE DATA BASE THAT WOULD INCLUDE INFORMATION ON OFFENDER FLOW AND PROCESSING TIME, A MANUAL OFFENDER-BASED TRANSACTION STATISTICS (OBTS) STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN 75 COUNTIES IN ARKANSAS.
Abstract
PLANNERS OF THE STUDY CHOSE TO COLLECT DATA ON EVERY ADULT AND JUVENILE FELONY ARREST IN ARKANSAS IN THE CALENDAR YEAR 1974. (BY CHOOSING THIS YEAR THE STUDY INSURED THAT MOST OF THE COURT CASES HAD BEEN CONCLUDED.) THE ACTUAL DATA COLLECTION TOOK ABOUT 1 YEAR, COLLECTED INFORMATION ON 10,462 FELONY ARREST, AND COST $35,000. A SPECIAL STAFF OF NINE FIELD PERSONNEL WAS HIRED TO GO INTO EACH COUNTY, LOCATE THE APPROPRIATE RECORDS, AND RECORD THE INFORMATION ON DATA COLLECTION CARDS. THESE CARDS WERE THEN USED TO ENCODE THE INFORMATION FOR DATA PROCESSING. THIS PROCEDURES MANUAL DESCRIBES THE PATHS OF DATA FLOW POSSIBLE IN THE COUNTIES, THE DATA ELEMENTS WHICH WERE COLLECTED BY THE SURVEY, AND THE QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES WHICH WERE IMPLEMENTED AT EACH STEP. AN ENCODING MANUAL AND COPIES OF THE DATA FORMS ARE GIVEN, AS ARE THE EDITING INSTRUCTIONS. IT WAS FOUND THAT COUNTIES VARIED GREATLY IN THEIR RECORDKEEPING. SOME KEPT EXTENSIVE INFORMATION ON EACH OFFENDER WHILE OTHERS MIGHT RETAIN ONLY THE NAME. EVEN TERMINOLOGY VARIED AMONG COUNTIES. THIS MANUAL SYSTEM WAS THE ONLY WAY STATE-WIDE STATISTICS COULD HAVE BEEN GATHERED. A STATE-WIDE OBTS SYSTEM WOULD BE OF GREAT VALUE IN FUTURE STUDIES. APPENDIXES, FOOTNOTES, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)