How Accurate are Arrestees in Reporting Their Crimal Justice Histories.: Concordance and Accuracy of Self-Reports Compared to Official Records

摘要

This analysis focuses upon the validity of arrestee self-reports of drug use and contacts with the criminal justice system. It is possible that the arrest event itself might lead to inaccurate self-report. The issue was examined using data from a supplement to the ADAM program that focused on policing. During the second half of 1999, interviews focusing on criminal activity, drug use and perceptions of policing were conducted with by 892 New York City arrestees. Policing study subjects gave informed consent for researchers to obtain their official criminal histories, which were acquired from the appropriate State agency as an anonymous data set. The nature and extent of discrepancies between the arrestees' self-reports and their official record information varied greatly depending upon the criminal justice system contact being measured. Policing subjects were highly likely to report whether they had been arrested, in jail, or in prison in their lifetime. However, they tended to deny arrests for serious crimes, specifically robbery, property, violent, and index crimes. Self-reports of illicit drug use were quite concordant with urine test results for substantial majorities of Policing subjects. While the accuracy and precision of arrestee self-reports varied from moderately high to poor, errors did not chiefly reflect attempts at concealment, as both over- and underreporting were generally similar in magnitude. We conclude arrestee self-reports continue to be valuable for criminological research, especially when documentation of the honesty of answers can be provided.