nmm 22 4500 ICPSR20622 MiAaI m f a u cr mn mmmmuuuu 130522s2009 miu f a eng d (MiAaI)ICPSR20622 MiAaI MiAaI Assessing Identity Theft Offenders' Strategies and Perceptions of Risk in the United States, 2006-2007 [electronic resource] Heith Copes , Lynne Vieraitis 2009-03-31 Ann Arbor, Mich. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor] 2009 ICPSR 20622 Numeric Title from ICPSR DDI metadata of 2013-05-22. AVAILABLE. This study is freely available to the general public. Also available as downloadable files. The purpose of this study was to examine the crime of identity theft from the offenders' perspectives. The study employed a purposive sampling strategy. Researchers identified potential interview subjects by examining newspapers (using Lexis-Nexis), legal documents (using Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw), and United States Attorneys' Web sites for individuals charged with, indicted, and/or sentenced to prison for identity theft. Once this list was generated, researchers used the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Inmate Locator to determine if the individuals were currently housed in federal facilities. Researchers visited the facilities that housed the largest number of inmates on the list in each of the six regions in the United States as defined by the BOP (Western, North Central, South Central, North Eastern, Mid-Atlantic, and South Eastern) and solicited the inmates housed in these prisons. A total of 14 correctional facilities were visited and 65 individuals incarcerated for identity theft or identity theft related crimes were interviewed between March 2006 and February 2007. Researchers used semi-structured interviews to explore the offenders' decision-making processes. When possible, interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Part 1 (Quantitative Data) includes the demographic variables age, race, gender, number of children, highest level of education, and socioeconomic class while growing up. Other variables include prior arrests or convictions and offense type, prior drug use and if drug use contributed to identity theft, if employment facilitated identity theft, if they went to trial or plead to charges, and sentence length. Part 2 (Qualitative Data), includes demographic questions such as family situation while growing up, highest level of education, marital status, number of children, and employment status while committing identity theft crimes. Subjects were asked about prior criminal activity and drug use. Questions specific to identity theft include the age at which the person became involved in identity theft, how many identities he or she had stolen, if they had worked with other people to steal identities, why they had become involved in identity theft, the skills necessary to steal identities, and the perceived risks involved in identity theft. Cf.: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR20622.v1 white collar crime icpsr adult offenders icpsr federal prisoners icpsr felony offenses icpsr fraud icpsr identity theft icpsr inmate attitudes icpsr personal finances icpsr property crimes icpsr access to information icpsr stolen property icpsr NACJD VII. Crime and Delinquency ICPSR XVII.E. Social Institutions and Behavior, Crime and the Criminal Justice System Copes, Heith Vieraitis, Lynne Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. ICPSR (Series) 20622 Access restricted ; authentication may be required: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR20622.v1