Social Order in Middletown, 1932-1975 (ICPSR 9058)

Published: Jan 18, 2006

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Principal Investigator(s):
John Hewitt

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09058.v1

Version V1

Summary

The purpose of this study was to examine crime over a period of 43 years in Muncie, Indiana, which has commonly been referred to as "Middletown" in social science studies. The unit of analysis is the criminal act charged. All charges were counted and appropriately categorized. The following rules were observed for cases involving multiple charges or multiple counts of single charges. First, each charge was counted separately when multiple charges were filed. Second, when a defendant was charged with multiple counts of a single charge, each count was considered to be a separate act and so recorded. Data are provided on year of criminal act charge, first, second, and third offenses charged, legal representation by public defender, amount of bail, nature of plea, and place and length of prison terms (Part 2). Other items specify city population, unemployment rate, and total jobs in nonfarm industries, as well as the number of police, reported charges and convictions for murders, rapes, assaults, and robberies, and the percentage of felons convicted for murder, rape, assault, and robbery that were incarcerated (Part 5). Additional variables provide the socioeconomic index, as well as other information on criminal cases such as initial charges, prior records and number of prior felony convictions, marital history, and work history of offenders, and prosecutors' recommended sentencings, actual number of months in jail, and probation and jail terms (Part 6). Demographic items specify age, sex, and race (Parts 2 and 6), as well as education and occupation (Part 6) of the alleged defendant.

Citation

Hewitt, John. Social Order in Middletown, 1932-1975. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-01-18. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09058.v1

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Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Time Period(s)

1932 -- 1975

Data Collection Notes

Despite the 1932-1975 date range in the title, there is indication that the collection actually contains data spanning 1829-1978.

Universe

All charged criminal acts in Muncie and Delaware Counties in Indiana in the period 1829-1978.

Data Source

docket books and records from criminal courts in Muncie and Delaware Counties, Indiana

Data Type(s)

administrative records data

Original Release Date

1985-03-18

Version Date

2006-01-18

Version History

2006-01-18 File CB9058.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

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.

  • The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented.
NACJD logo

This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.