Techniques for Assessing the Accuracy of Recidivism Prediction Scales, 1960-1980: [Miami, Albuquerque, New York City, Alameda and Los Angeles Counties, and the State of California]
Description
The purpose of this data collection was to measure the
validity or accuracy of four recidivism prediction instruments: the
INSLAW, RAND, SFS81, and CGR scales. These scales estimate the
probability that criminals will commit subsequent crimes quickly, that
individuals will commit crime frequently, that inmates who are
eligible for release on parole will commit subsequent crimes, and that
defendants awaiting trial will commit crimes while on pretrial arrest
or detention. The investigators used longitudinal data from five
existing independent studies to assess the validity of the four
predictive measures in question. The first data file was originally
collected by the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City and was
derived from an experimental evaluation of a jobs training program
called the Alternative Youth Employment Strategies Project implemented
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Miami, Florida, and New York City, New
York. The second file contains data from a RAND Corporation study,
EFFECTS OF PRISON VERSUS PROBATION IN CALIFORNIA, 1980-1982 (ICPSR
8700), from offenders in Alameda and Los Angeles counties,
California. Parts 3 through 5 pertain to serious juvenile offenders
who were incarcerated during the 1960s and 1970s in three institutions
of the California Youth Authority. A portion of the original data for
these parts was taken from EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHRONIC
OFFENDER, [1978-1980: CALIFORNIA] (ICPSR 8226). All files present
demographic and socioeconomic variables such as birth information,
race and ethnicity, education background, work and military
experience, and criminal history, including involvement in criminal
activities, drug addiction, and incarceration episodes. From the
variables in each data file, standard variables across all data files
were constructed. Constructed variables included those on background
(such as drug use, arrest, conviction, employment, and education
history), which were used to construct the four predictive scales, and
follow-up variables concerning arrest and incarceration
history. Scores on the four predictive scales were estimated.