AUSTRALIAN DELINQUENCY - RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS (FROM DELINQUENCY IN AUSTRALIA - A CRITICAL APPRAISAL, 1977, BY P R WILSON - SEE NCJ-59612)

• NCJ Number: 59614
• Author(s): J BRAITHWAITE
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 34 pages
• Corporate Author: University of Queensland Press
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

KINDS OF DATA MOST OFTEN USED IN DELINQUENCY RESEARCH--OFFICIAL, SELF-REPORT, AND PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION--ARE ASSESSED AS TO VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY, AND THE USE OF RESEARCH IN POLICYMAKING IS DISCUSSED.

Abstract

OFFICIAL RECORDS OF DELINQUENCY ARE OF THREE KINDS--POLICE RECORDS, COURT RECORDS, AND THE RECORDS OF INSTITUTIONS FOR THE CARE AND CONTROL OF DELINQUENTS. ALL THREE ARE LIMITED IN THAT THEY RECORD ONLY A FRACTION OF THE TOTAL DELINQUENT ACTIVITY IN THE COMMUNITY. BECAUSE COURT RECORDS ARE PROCEDURALLY FURTHER FROM THE OFFENSE THAN ARE POLICE RECORDS, MORE BIASES CAN ENTER INTO COURT RECORDS. RESEARCH PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF OFFICIAL DATA CAN BE REDUCED BY FOCUSING ON OFFENSES THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST RATE OF REPORTING, SUCH AS HOMICIDES. HOWEVER, COMPLEXITIES REMAIN IN THE INTERPRETATION OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. AN AUSTRALIAN CASE STUDY IS PROVIDED TO ILLUSTRATE HOW OFFICIAL STATISTICS CAN LEAD A RESEARCHER ASTRAY. UNDER THE SELF-REPORT APPROACH FOR GATHERING DATA ON DELINQUENCY, RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO INDICATE WHICH AMONG A NUMBER OF OFFENSES THEY HAVE COMMITTED AND HOW MANY TIMES THEY HAD COMMITTED EACH OFFENSE. THE METHOD STANDS OR FALLS ON THE HONESTY OF RESPONDENTS AS TO THEIR DELINQUENCY INVOLVEMENT. ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY OF VALIDATION AND RELIABILITY STUDIES HAVE SUPPORTED THE ADEQUACY OF SELF-REPORT MEASURES, CONSIDERABLE ERROR IN DATA FOUND IN THIS STUDY, MUST CAST DOUBT UPON THEIR ACCURACY. ANOTHER METHOD OF GATHERING DATA, PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION, INVOLVES THE RESEARCHER IN GATHERING DATA FROM OBSERVING THE DAY-TO-DAY INTERACTION OF THE DELINQUENT. WHILE PERMITTING A MORE ROUNDED PICTURE OF THE DELINQUENT ENTERPRISE, PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION NECESSITATES RESTRICTIONS IN THE NUMBER OF DELINQUENT ACTS, THE NUMBER OF SUBJECTS, AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA THAT CAN BE OBSERVED. WHEN APPROPRIATE, THE USE OF ALL METHODOLOGIES IN A GIVEN STUDY IS BEST ABLE TO YIELD A MAXIMUM OF VALID AND RELIABLE FINDINGS. WHERE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO USE ALL METHODS, CAUTION IN DRAWING CONCLUSIONS IS ADVISED. STEPS FOR LINKING DELINQUENCY RESEARCH TO POLICYMAKING ARE DISCUSSED. A SAMPLE SELF-REPORT DATA FORM IS PROVIDED, ALONG WITH FOOTNOTES. (RCB)