NCJ Number
97740
Date Published
1982
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the recruitment and sampling of participants and the analysis of data, from 1979 to 1982, for a study on the roles of drugs and alcohol in delinquency and crime.
Abstract
The basic sampling frame was comprised of the 25 New Jersey telephone directories; however, 5 counties were eliminated because of low yields of eligible participants. Following an initial telephone interview, participants were visited at home by a field interviewer. Questionnaires were completed by each parent and the participants, and locator forms were filled out to provide information for future tracking of participants. Subsequently, each participant completed 1 day of testing and interviews. A total of 1,381 adolescents born between 1961 and 1969 and stratified by sex and birth cohort participated in the initial cross-sectional survey; they will be retested at 3-year intervals. As of May 1982, researchers had examined the relationship between marijuana, alcohol, and other drug use and criminal behavior; compared developmental patterns of alcohol, drug use, and criminal behavior; explored peer influences separately and together on criminal behavior and substance use, and examined economic motivations for criminal behavior. Other investigations will also be conducted, focusing on such topics as the etiology of juvenile delinquency, gender differences in criminal behavior, and relationships between delinquency, violence, and drug use. Additionally, to develop ties with the correction field, researchers have become involved in several professional organizations, including the New Jersey Criminal Justice Alcohol Coalition. Research will continue at least through 1986.