Characteristics of Student Offenders - Some New Findings and Suggested Improvements in Research Methodology

• NCJ Number: 74736
• Journal: Journal of College Student Personnel Volume: 20 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1979) Pages: 492-497
• Author(s): T J Tracey; M E Foster; D C Perkins; L P Hillman
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The demographic characteristics of a random sample of 131 student offenders were compared with those of the remaining student population using the variables of class, residence, division, and sex.

Abstract

The study was conducted at an eastern, State-supported university of 35,000 students; and data on first offenders who violated university regulations for the academic years of 1973-74, 1974-75, and 1975-76 were gathered from case files and compared with data on the general population for 1974-75. The offense categories were combined into four groups: human safety (safety, fire, illegal entry, and obstruction of justice offenses); theft; academic dishonesty; and violations of drug and financial obligations policy (alcohol, drug, financial, and forgery violations). Groupings for place of residence were combined to form the categories of large dorms (more than 500 residents), small on-campus units, and off-campus residences. Chi-square analyses for significance were performed. The results showed that class differences among undergraduate offenders were not significant, but that graduate students were significantly underrepresented in the sample. Student offenders were not found to be significantly different from the university population in terms of area of study; and males were shown to be significantly overrepresented in the offender sample. Furthermore, students residing in the large dorms were overrepresented in the offender sample, while commuters were proportionately underrepresented. In addition, the commuters committed a disproportionate amount of theft. Those living in large dorms were overrepresented in the safety violation group, but underrepresented in the theft group; and those residing in small on-campus living units were involved in fewer academic dishonesty offenses than would be expected. Related studies are reviewed. Data tables and eight references are included.