Identifying High-Rate Serious Criminals from Official Records

John E. Rolph, Jan M. Chaiken

ResearchPublished 1987

Can official criminal records reliably be used to conclude that certain offenders are committing serious crimes at high rates? By comparing official records with self reports of criminal activity collected in RAND's second inmate survey, this study finds that commonly available official criminal history data are of only marginal help in discriminating between high-rate serious offenders and others. Using additional self-reported data on offenders' backgrounds, particularly regarding substance abuse and early juvenile criminal activity, improves the identification to about 36 percent over what can be achieved by chance.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 1987
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 85
  • Paperback Price: $30.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-0854-1
  • Document Number: R-3433-NIJ

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Rolph, John E. and Jan M. Chaiken, Identifying High-Rate Serious Criminals from Official Records, RAND Corporation, R-3433-NIJ, 1987. As of September 15, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3433.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Rolph, John E. and Jan M. Chaiken, Identifying High-Rate Serious Criminals from Official Records. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1987. https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3433.html. Also available in print form.
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