Issues in the Measurement of Criminal Careers (From Criminal Careers and 'Career Criminals,' Volume II, P 1-51, 1986, Alfred Blumstein, et at, eds. - See NCJ-102772)

• NCJ Number: 102773
• Author(s): J G Weis
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 51 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Academies Press; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-102772.

Annotation

The measurement of individual criminal careers is examined in terms of the alternative measurement techniques available, the sources of distortion and their effects on estimates, and research strategies that would reduce discrepancies among different measures of individual offending patterns.

Abstract

The five basic data sources for measuring offending patterns are official crime records, self-reports of criminal behavior, reports of personal victimization, direct observations, and informant reports. Official records and self-reports are the most useful measurement methods. Official data can measure official prevalence and individual offending patterns, but are less useful as measures of the correlates and determinants of parameters. Self-reports typically cover shorter periods and can gather extensive etiological and descriptive information. Official and self-report data are largely consistent for sex, age, school performance, intellectual ability, peer delinquency, and poor family supervision. However, the two methods show discrepancies for race and social class. Interviewer characteristics, the method of administration, and respondent characteristics can affect the validity and reliability of self-reports. Incompleteness, sampling and access problems, and other factors limit the reliability of official records. Research should quantitatively examine the relationship between research methods and findings. Additional recommendations and 164 references.