Violent Offending by Drug Users: Longitudinal Arrest Histories of Adults Arrested in Washington, DC, 1985-1986 (ICPSR 6254)
Version Date: Jan 22, 1996 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Jacqueline Cohen, Carnegie Mellon University, H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06254.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This data collection effort examined the influence of drug use on three key aspects of offenders' criminal careers in violence: participation, frequency of offending, and termination rate. A random sample of arrestees was taken from those arrested in Washington, DC, during the period July 1, 1985, to June 6, 1986. The sample was stratified to overrepresent groups other than Black males. Drug use was determined by urinalysis results at the time of arrest, as contrasted with previous studies that relied on self-reports of drug use. The research addresses the following questions: (1) Does drug use have an influence on participation in violent criminal activity? (2) Does drug use influence the frequency of violent offending? (3) Is there a difference in the types and rates of violent offending between drug-using offenders who use stimulants and those who use depressants? Variables regarding arrests include date of arrest, drug test result, charges filed, disposition date, disposition type, and sentence length imposed. Demographic variables include race, sex, birthdate, and place of birth.
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
HideTime Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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The dataset is hierarchical and contains three record types. Record type 1, comprised of 13 variables and 1,368 records, contains stable personal information. Each unique individual represented in the data has a single record type 1. Record type 2, comprised of 49 variables and 7,117 records, contains changing personal information at the time of arrest. Record type 3, comprised of 78 variables and 7,117 records, contains arrest and court information. Each occurrence of record type 1 has at least one associated record type 2. Each occurrence of record type 2 has exactly one associated record type 3.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The study was conducted to examine the relationship between drug use and violent criminal behaviors. The research addresses the following questions: (1) Does drug use have an influence on participation in violent criminal activity? (2) Does drug use influence the frequency of offending for violent crimes? (3) Is there a difference in the types and rates of violent offending between drug-using offenders who use stimulants and those who use depressants? This research may impact criminal justice decisions by delineating the role of drug use in different aspects of violent offending. The research suggests that drug use may be an aggravating factor among drug-using violent offenders who commit violent crimes at higher frequencies and over more extended time periods than do nonusing violent offenders.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Longitudinal arrest data for a sample of arrestees were collected to characterize the violent offending patterns of drug users and nonusers. The sample included adults arrested in Washington, DC, on any charge from July 1, 1985, to June 30, 1986. Data were collected from case files maintained by the Washington, DC, Pretrial Services Agency for 1,368 arrestees and 7,117 arrests. Previous and subsequent arrests of the same individual were linked together to form an arrest history. Arrest histories date back to 1943 and continue through 1990. A major emphasis of the study was to refine measures of offending in order to better distinguish different aspects of violent offending by drug users and nonusers. Offending by drug users and nonusers, as determined by outcomes of urinalysis at the time of arrest, was characterized in terms of several distinct aspects of individual offending, particularly: (1) participation in violence estimated from the fraction of arrestees with any arrests for violent offenses, (2) frequency of violence reflected in the annual rate of violent criminal activity by these active offenders, and (3) termination rates of ending involvement in violent activities.
Sample View help for Sample
Stratified random sample of adult arrestees.
Universe View help for Universe
Adult arrestees in Washington, DC, from the period July 1, 1985, to June 30, 1986.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
case files of the Washington, DC, Pretrial Services Agency
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The data are contained in three different record types. Record type 1 contains identifying information that remains constant over an individual's lifetime (e.g., race, sex, birthdate, place of birth). Each individual has one record type 1. Record type 2 contains personal information of a changing nature at each arrest (e.g., marital status, employment, substance abuse information, probation and parole information). There is a record type 2 for each arrest. Consequently, each record type 1 has at least one corresponding record type 2. Record type 3 contains arrest and court information for each arrest (e.g., charges, warrant information, case disposition, and sentencing). Each record type 2 has one, and only one, corresponding record type 3.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
None.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
1996-01-22
Version History View help for Version History
- Cohen, Jacqueline. VIOLENT OFFENDING BY DRUG USERS: LONGITUDINAL ARREST HISTORIES OF ADULTS ARRESTED IN WASHINGTON, DC, 1985-1986. ICPSR version. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University, H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management [producer], 1992. Ann Arbor MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1995. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06254.v1
1996-01-22 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Standardized missing values.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.