The 1980 NLSY79 survey included a special self-report detailing respondents’ participation in and income from delinquent or criminal activities such as skipping school, alcohol/marijuana use, vandalism, shoplifting, drug dealing, robbery, assault, or gambling during the previous twelve month period (see Table 4.10.1 and Table 4.10.2). Adapted from previously used self-report delinquency scales, this instrument was modified for the NLS to accommodate the confidentiality issues raised by in-home administration. In addition, it used an expanded response scale to differentiate very highly delinquent youth from occasional participants. A second set of questions measured involvement with the criminal justice system by assessing the extent of police contacts, resulting criminal convictions, and sentences (probation, incarceration) received.
Table 4.10.1
Number of Respondents Reporting Participation within the Past Year
in Illegal Activities by Gender & Race/Ethnicity: 1980 NLSY79 (Unweighted)
| Activity | Total | Male | Female | Hispanic | Black |
Non-Black Non-Hispanic |
||
| Respondents Aged 17 & Under1 | ||||||||
| Runaway | 374 | 180 | 194 | 69 | 71 | 234 | ||
| Truant | 1845 | 980 | 865 | 395 | 368 | 1082 | ||
| Drinking | 2353 | 1273 | 1080 | 373 | 451 | 1529 | ||
| All Respondents | ||||||||
| Vandalism | 2131 | 1588 | 543 | 313 | 468 | 1350 | ||
| Fighting | 3315 | 2390 | 925 | 531 | 1020 | 1764 | ||
| Shoplifting | 3040 | 1716 | 1324 | 514 | 721 | 1805 | ||
| Petty Theft | 2237 | 1498 | 739 | 297 | 444 | 1496 | ||
| Grand Theft | 658 | 541 | 117 | 103 | 178 | 377 | ||
| Robbery | 602 | 466 | 136 | 57 | 222 | 323 | ||
| Assault | 4395 | 2812 | 1583 | 556 | 1152 | 2687 | ||
| Aggravated Assault | 1245 | 880 | 365 | 155 | 389 | 701 | ||
| Marijuana Use | 5493 | 2946 | 2547 | 745 | 1184 | 3564 | ||
| Hard Drug Use | 2276 | 1251 | 1025 | 272 | 303 | 1701 | ||
| Sold Marijuana | 1266 | 880 | 386 | 154 | 236 | 876 | ||
| Sold Hard Drugs | 294 | 208 | 86 | 34 | 57 | 203 | ||
| Fraud | 2581 | 1499 | 1082 | 335 | 792 | 1454 | ||
| Auto Theft | 922 | 623 | 299 | 152 | 210 | 560 | ||
| Breaking/Entering | 706 | 609 | 97 | 96 | 127 | 483 | ||
| Fencing | 1343 | 1031 | 312 | 221 | 293 | 829 | ||
| Gambling | 281 | 233 | 48 | 48 | 85 | 148 | ||
| 1 Age calculated as of date of interview. | ||||||||
Table 4.10.2 Number of Respondents Reporting Contact with the Police and/or Criminal Justice System by Gender, Race/Ethnicity & 1979 Family Poverty Status: 1980 NLSY79 (Unweighted)
| Gender | Race/Ethnicity | Poverty Status in 1979 | ||||||||||
| Type of Contact | Total | Male | Female | Hispanic | Black |
Non-Black Non-Hispanic |
Status NA1 | Not in Poverty | In Poverty | |||
| Stopped by Police | 2248 | 1734 | 514 | 365 | 517 | 1366 | 145 | 1610 | 493 | |||
| Booked or Charged | 1325 | 1056 | 269 | 207 | 269 | 849 | 93 | 913 | 319 | |||
| As an Adult | 981 | 812 | 169 | 136 | 202 | 643 | 87 | 686 | 208 | |||
| Convicted | 753 | 612 | 141 | 111 | 134 | 508 | 57 | 505 | 191 | |||
| Assault | 90 | 77 | 13 | 11 | 25 | 54 | 7 | 62 | 21 | |||
| Robbery | 49 | 46 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 20 | 5 | 26 | 18 | |||
| Theft | 237 | 180 | 57 | 38 | 42 | 157 | 20 | 147 | 70 | |||
| Fraud/Forgery | 17 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |||
| Fencing | 17 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 6 | |||
| Property Destruction | 62 | 56 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 49 | 7 | 45 | 10 | |||
| Other Property Offense | 90 | 83 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 68 | 6 | 51 | 33 | |||
| Gambling | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Vice | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Drug Offense | 106 | 90 | 16 | 7 | 12 | 87 | 9 | 82 | 15 | |||
| Major Traffic Offense | 118 | 104 | 14 | 24 | 8 | 86 | 6 | 91 | 21 | |||
| Alcohol Consumption (Minor) | 54 | 41 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 43 | 2 | 41 | 11 | |||
| Sentenced Correctional Institution | 313 | 257 | 56 | 47 | 73 | 193 | 35 | 167 | 111 | |||
| Youth Correctional | 183 | 139 | 44 | 27 | 41 | 115 | 22 | 83 | 78 | |||
| Adult Correctional | 157 | 144 | 13 | 24 | 46 | 87 | 17 | 98 | 42 | |||
| 1 This refers to individuals for whom the income variable is missing. | ||||||||||||
Related variables collected during this and other survey years include (1) questions on school discipline problems, e.g., whether each NLSY79 respondent had ever been suspended or expelled from school and when/if the youth had returned to school (see the "School Discipline" section of this guide); (2) the childhood residence section of the 1988 survey, which collected information on whether NLSY79 respondents had resided in a detention center/jail/prison during any of their first eighteen years of life (see the “Family Background” area of interest); and (3) a yearly created ‘Type of Residence’ variable that identifies those NLSY79 respondents who resided in jail at each interview date. Table 4.10.3 lists the number of respondents that were in jail or prison at time of interview for each round.
Responses of “in jail” to questions within post-1988 Employer Supplements and the “Gaps Not Working” sections of the main questionnaires for the reason not looking for work when not employed can also be used to identify incarcerated respondents (see the “Between Job Gaps” and “Misc. xxxx” areas of interest).Table 4.10.3 Number of NLSY79 Respondents in Jail or Prison at Survey Date
|
Survey Year |
Respondents in Prison/Jail |
Survey Year |
Respondents in Prison/Jail |
|
|
1979 |
26 |
1990 |
134 |
|
|
1980 |
63 |
1991 |
121 |
|
|
1981 |
68 |
1992 |
138 |
|
|
1982 |
91 |
1993 |
146 |
|
|
1983 |
104 |
1994 |
153 |
|
|
1984 |
103 |
1996 |
150 |
|
|
1985 |
105 |
1998 |
137 |
|
|
1986 |
115 |
2000 |
121 |
|
|
1987 |
128 |
2002 |
110 |
|
|
1988 |
128 |
20041 | -- | |
|
1989 |
139 |
|||
|
1Data was incomplete for 2004 due to
confidentiality concerns regarding inmate's participation |
||||
|
User Notes:
Spells of incarceration
can be detected by carefully examining the household interview variables from
each interview. If a respondent is in jail or in prison at the time of
interview, that information is recorded (see the 'Type of
Residence' variables discussion in the "Household Composition" section of this
guide). Users may wish to take into account the perspective an
imprisoned NLSY79 respondent brings to answering survey questions.
Crowley (1982) examined nonresponse in the special 1980 data collection and found it to be fairly low. About 2.5 percent of the sample refused to answer any questions; refusal rates on individual questions ranged from 2.6 to 3.4 percent. Adults were more likely to refuse to answer than minors, and drug-related offenses had the highest nonresponse rates. Refusal rates were higher for males, minorities, the economically disadvantaged, and high school dropouts—those expected to have higher rates of illegal activities. Crowley therefore concludes that a small amount of underreporting probably did take place. While these illegal activities data are based on self-reports, experts on criminal behavior believe, despite the potential problems with self-reports, that this mode of data collection may be as good as or better than others. Users should consult the work of experts on these issues. |
Survey Instruments: Section 15 (of the 1980 questionnaire) on “Delinquency and Drugs,” Section 16 on “Reported Police Contacts,” and the accompanying confidential Form J contain the delinquency and police contact questions.
Data Files & Documentation: The 71 variables collected during 1980 are found in the “Illegal” area of interest in the main NLSY79 data set. Background information on the development of the index, the specific procedures used to administer the confidential form, issues intrinsic to measurement of delinquent behavior and criminal activity, and an analysis of the consistency of responses to the various delinquency and police contact measures can be found in two reports authored by Crowley (1981, 1982).
Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Beginning in 1988 two sets of questions were asked of NLSY79 children dealing with (1) the extent of each child's self-reported participation during the past year in various illegal activities such as vandalism, shoplifting, and assault and (2) the extent of use and age of first use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and drugs. Starting in 1994 young adults were also asked a series of questions closely resembling those in the 1980 main NLSY79.
The NLSY97 survey asks about participation in and the intensity of various criminal activities in the previous year (round 1). In subsequent rounds respondents were questioned about the number of times they participated in criminal activity since the date of last interview.
NLSY97 round 1 youth respondents were also asked whether they had ever been arrested by the police or taken into custody for an illegal or delinquent offense (not including arrests for minor traffic violations) and the total number of times this had happened. In subsequent rounds, respondents were asked about number of arrests since the last interview.
The 1968 survey of schools attended by Young Men and Young Women respondents included two questions on whether school records indicated that the respondent had been committed to or was on probation from a correctional institution. Also as part of the 1968 school survey, school records were examined for an indication that the respondent had ever been expelled or suspended from school. For more details, consult the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/nls or the appropriate cohort’s User’s Guide.References
Crowley, Joan E. “Crime and Delinquency: Descriptions and Distributions.” In Pathways to the Future: A Longitudinal Study of Young Americans. Preliminary Report on the 1980 Survey. Michael E. Borus, ed., Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1981.
Crowley, Joan E. “Delinquency and Employment: Substitutions or Spurious Associations.” In Pathways to the Future Volume II. A Final Report on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience in 1980. Michael E. Borus, ed., Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1982.