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Diagnostic Study of the Criminal Alias

NCJ Number
102238
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1986) Pages: 1023-1028
Author(s)
B Harry
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The author found that 64 (30.9 percent) of 207 incarcerated male offenders had been officially recognized as having changed their names at some time.
Abstract
The most common ways in which their names were modified included changing the middle name or initial, changing the spelling of one name, or completely changing all three names. These alias users were older property offenders who had more prior arrests, less education, more tattoos, more prior psychiatric contact, and were more often alcoholics than alias nonusers. While these findings are consistent with intentional deception, they also suggest that criminal alias users may have a pathological self-concept. (Author abstract)

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