NCJ Number
59667
Date Published
1977
Length
28 pages
Annotation
RESULTS ARE REPORTED FROM A PILOT STUDY TO DETERMINE IF OFFICIAL RECORDS GIVE THE KIND OF INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR EMPIRICAL WORK RELATED TO INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL AND LIFE HISTORIES.
Abstract
A DATA SET OF SUFFICIENT QUALITY AND QUANTITY, WITH A COMPREHENSIVE REPRESENTATION OF INDIVIDUAL OFFENDERS' CHARACTERISTICS AND DECISIONS, WOULD MAKE POSSIBLE THE ANALYSIS OF SUCH ISSUES AS DETERRENCE, THE EFFECT OF LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES ON CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, AND THE EFFECT ON EARNINGS OF CONTACT WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. ALSO, IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT BY USING DATA ON INDIVIDUALS, MANY OF THE STATISTICAL PROBLEMS COMMON TO EMPIRICAL WORK BASED ON AGGREGATE DATA MIGHT BE AVOIDED. CONCENTRATING ON RECORDS COLLECTED BY THE CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, EFFORTS WERE MADE TO CONSTRUCT THESE COMPREHENSIVE INDIVIDUAL HISTORIES. IT WAS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT THAT AN INDIVIDUAL'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES WERE POORLY RENDERED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RECORDS. ALTERNATIVE SOURCES FOR THIS INFORMATION, SUCH AS THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, WERE EXPLORED AND ASSESSED. THE CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, HOWEVER, GREATLY LIMIT THE USEFULNESS OF THIS INFORMATION; IT IS AVAILABLE ONLY ON GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS. THE RECORDS OF VARIOUS CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES WERE GENERALLY SPARSE, AND OCCASIONALLY RECORDS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES WERE CONTRADICTORY. THESE DEFICIENCIES IN OFFICIAL RECORDS FORCED THE CONCLUSION THAT THE DATA BASE DESIRED IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM THIS SOURCE ALONE. WHILE IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO GENERATE THE DESIRED DATA BASE BY COMBINING OFFICIAL RECORDS WITH SELF-REPORTS, CONSIDERATIONS OF RELIABILITY AND THE LOGISTICS OF SUCH AN EFFORT ARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH PROGRAM. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)