Feasibility of NIBRS for Supporting National Studies of Non- Family Abductions of Children

• NCJ Number: 170545
• Author(s): E Poe; H Snyder; M McCalla; P Messerschmidt
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 180 pages
• Contract Number(s): 92-MC-CX-K002 (S-2)
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Sale Source: RTI International; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the feasibility of using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data to study nonfamily abductions (NFA's) and other child victimizations as part of the second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART) Police Records Study (PRS).

Abstract

The study had two main operational goals: (1) determine the feasibility of using the NIBRS, given specifications and procedures for data collection and automation and resulting data quality; and (2) determine the validity and reliability of NFA estimates extracted from the NIBRS, including their comparability to estimates based on NISMART definitions. Files provided by State and local sites participating in the study were analyzed, as well as NIBRS files and other qualitative data. Analysis revealed agreement between the PRS and police classification of victims in paper records as NFA's was moderate at best. A great deal of variability was observed in agreement between police classification and PRS results by local law enforcement agencies supplying the records. Examination of agreement by NFA definition indicated higher levels of agreement that victims had been abducted for NFA definition one than for NFA definitions two and three. Examination of disagreement by the countability of core definitional elements (taken, lured, and detained) indicated disagreement was particularly likely in cases involving luring and to some extent detainment. Disagreement between police and PRS coders was highest when victims were in their early teens and/or perpetrators were friends or acquaintances of victims. Data obtained from the NIBRS are compared with State and local data, and the ability of the NIBRS to replicate the NISMART Police Records Study is assessed. Recommendations are offered to improve data collection procedures in future studies. Appendixes contain site visit and data collection instruments and information on the consistency of individual data elements in incident records across local, State, and Federal Bureau of Investigation files. 5 references and 13 tables