Cohort Study on the Development of Police-Recorded Criminality and Criminal Sanctioning -- Part One: How Longitudinal Studies Are Possible Considering the Existing Data Protection Restrictions (From Crime and Criminal Justice: Criminological Research in the 2nd Decade at the Max Planck Institute in

• NCJ Number: 116133
• Author(s): G Schneider; P Sutterer; T Karger
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Max-Planck-Institute Fur Auslandisches und Internationales Strafrecht
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

This study proposes to investigate the emergence and evolution of criminality as a function of the type and extent of law enforcement interventions and to demonstrate how the issue of data protection and confidentiality can jeopardize research projects.

Abstract

Police data will be obtained from the State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Judicial records will also be examined to identify conviction and punishment type. In the first study phase, persons born in a certain year will be observed over a followup period of about 15-20 years to assess further police registrations and convictions. Members of four birth years will be included in the study. The youngest cohorts (1975, 1978) range in age from 7-11 years. The older cohorts (1973, 1970) range in age from 12-16 years. Random samples will be drawn from the resident population of the same cohorts to interview nonregistered respondents as a comparison group. The study design will be accomplished in three phases: 1) secondary data analysis of police and judicial records; 2) random sampling from the same population and field survey; and 3) linkage of all data sets and analysis of the entire data base. Data collection procedures and problems associated with the cohort study are described. The importance of data protection to preserve the privacy rights of individuals is emphasized. 31 references.