NCJ Number
60325
Journal
Revue de science criminelle et de droit penal compare Issue: 1 Dated: (JANUARY-MARCH 1979) Pages: 143-153
Date Published
1979
Length
11 pages
Annotation
THE FEASIBILITY OF CONDUCTING CLINICAL RESEARCH IN CRIMINOLOGY USING DOCUMENTS SUCH AS MEDICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORDS IS ASSESSED BY EXAMINING CRITICISMS OF AND COMPARING RESULTS FROM DIRECT AND INDIRECT DATA.
Abstract
CRITICS OF THE DOCUMENTARY METHOD CITE THE DIFFICULTY IN GAINING ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS, UNEVENNESS OF THE DOCUMENTS' INFORMATIVE VALUE, DIFFICULTIES IN ANALYZING COMPLEX DATA IN DOCUMENTS, ESPECIALLY FROM ARCHIVES, WITHOUT EVALUATING WHOLE DOCUMENTS, AND THE RELATIVITY OF DOCUMENTARY QUANTIFICATION. SUPPORTERS ARGUE THAT PROBLEMS CAN BE OVERCOME BY STANDARDIZATION OF RECORDS AND OF DATA COLLECTION METHODS (EVEN BY RESEARCHERS THEMSELVES), BY RESEARCHERS' COLLECTING THEIR OWN INFORMATION, BY GENERAL DIRECT IMPROVEMENT OF CLINICAL DATA'S INFORMATION VALUE, AND BY INDIRECT IMPROVEMENT OF DATA QUALITY THROUGH MATHEMATICAL AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES. FURTHERMORE, VARIOUS CRITICS ARGUE THAT DOCUMENTARY DATA ARE NOT APPROPRIATE TO RESEARCH ON CRIMES AND CRIMINALS BECAUSE DATA DO NOT ENCOMPASS UNRECORDED CRIMES, BECAUSE PERSONALITY CHARACTERIZATIONS ARE INADEQUATE FOR A POSITIVISTIC ETIOLOGICAL APPROACH, AND BECAUSE A LACK OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THE OBSERVER AND THE OBJECT RENDERS THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL-EXISTENTIAL APPROACH UNTENABLE. ADVOCATES OF THE METHOD COUNTER THAT EVERY SCIENTIFIC OBJECT IS CONSTRUCTED, ITS BEING SCIENTIFIC JUST BECAUSE IT IS CONSTRUCTED, AND THAT THE LONG PROCESS OF THE OBJECTIFICATION OF DATA PERMITS THE JUMP FROM THE CONCRETE OBJECT PERCEIVED TO THE ABSTRACT OBJECT WITH SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION VALUE. COMPARISON OF RESEARCH RESULTS ON CHILD GUIDANCE USING FIRST-HAND INFORMATION (SURVEY) AND SECOND-HAND INFORMATION (RECORDS) INDICATES THAT THE DATA SETS ARE VERY SIMILAR, THAT IN BOTH CASES THERAPEUTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUCTIONS ARE AFFECTED NEGATIVELY BY INSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONS RATHER THAN BY SUBJECTS' MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISICS, AND THAT THE SECOND-HAND DATA ARE IN GENERAL AS VALID AS THE FIRST-HAND DATA FOR ASSESSING QUALITATIVE FACTORS AND CLINICAL RELATIONSHIPS. DOCUMENTATION HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF PERMANENCE, PERMITTING RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL POINT OF DEPARTURE AND REEVALUATING RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL POINT TIME AND MONEY. NOTES ARE SUPPLIED. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)