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Self-reports

Self-reports. Answer Key. Arrests for violent crimes comes from UCR Crimes recorded by the police comes from UCR. Answer Key. Victimizations reported to the police comes from UCR+NCVS The number of homicides – from UCR The number of rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults – from NCVS

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Self-reports

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  1. Self-reports

  2. Answer Key • Arrests for violent crimes comes from UCR • Crimes recorded by the police comes from UCR

  3. Answer Key • Victimizations reported to the policecomes from UCR+NCVSThe number of homicides – from UCR The number of rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults – from NCVS • Total serious violent crime comes from UCR+NCVSThe number of homicides – from UCR The number of rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults – from NCVS whether or not they were reported to the police.

  4. City X • Experiences an increase in the arrest rates

  5. Self-reports • The basic approach of the self-report method is to ask individuals if they have engaged in delinquent or criminal behavior, and if so, how often they have done so.

  6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxzNctBVtYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sPwZMsYdRo&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxzNctBVtYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sPwZMsYdRo&feature=related

  7. Self-reports data • Started in 1950s to tap “hidden delinquency”

  8. Types of self-reports • Longitudinal surveys: Such reports can be obtained from the same group of people over a long period of time • Cross-sectional surveys: can be obtained from different groups of people at the same point in time

  9. Self-reports • Most youths involved in violent crimes are never arrested for a violent crime • Thus, arrests seriously underestimate the volume of violent crime

  10. Austin Porterfield (1943) • He analyzed the juvenile court records of 2,049 delinquents (Texas) and identified 55 offenses for which they had been adjudicated • Surveyed 437 students from three colleges to determine if and how frequently they had committed any of the 55 offenses • Every one of the college students had committed at least one of these offenses

  11. Austin Porterfield (1943) • The offenses committed by the college students were as serious as those committed by the adjudicated delinquents (although not as frequent), yet few of the college students had come into contact with legal authorities

  12. Wallerstein and Wylie (1947) • Sampled a group of 1,698 adult men and women and examined self-reports of their delinquent behavior committed before the age of 16 • Almost all reported committing at least one delinquent act included on their checklist

  13. Potential of self-reports • By including questions about other aspects of life with a delinquency/crime scale in the same questionnaire, researchers could explore etiological issues of crime • Theoretically interesting issues concerning the family, peers, and school

  14. Samples for self-reports • Adult inmates of jails and prisons • Adolescents, usually high school students • Middle-class youth commit as much crime as working-class youth

  15. Assessment of self-report studies • Focus on minor and trivial offenses (truancy, running away from home, minor drug and alcohol use) • Although recent studies (NYS) asked subjects about rape and robbery • Respondents might not to tell the truth (reliability issues)

  16. If respondents lie…. • Self-report data can be checked against police records, school records, interviews with teachers and parents • The use of, or threat of, polygraph validation (20% change their initial responses when threatened with a “lie detector”) • Subsequent interviewing of subjects permits probing regarding the details and context of acts • Use of “lie scales”

  17. Example of lie scale • I always tell the truth • Sometimes I tell lies • Once in a while I get angry • I never feel sad • Sometimes I do things I am not supposed to do • I have never taken anything that did not belong to me

  18. Assessment of self-report studies • Several self-report studies included only boys (no female offending data) • Overestimation of some crimes • Ignore white collar crimes and serious violent crimes

  19. UCR, NCVS, and self-reports • None of the three is perfect • For the best estimates of the actual number of crimes, NCVS data are preferable • For the best estimates of offender characteristics, self-reports and NCVS are preferable • UCR are superior for understanding the geographical distribution of crime

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