NCJ Number
186692
Journal
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: 1999 Pages: 93-103
Date Published
1999
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study obtained judgements of juvenile offense seriousness from Australian police officers (n=13), undergraduate psychology students (n=15), teachers (n=14), and lawyers (n=12).
Abstract
Participants were asked to rate the seriousness of the 34 items in the Australian Self-Reported Delinquency Scale. The nine subscales assess specific domains of delinquent activity: cheating, status offenses, fighting, stealing of vehicles and their parts, drug use, theft, harming others, driving offenses, and acts of vandalism and disturbance. Judgements on each of the items were obtained by using a 21-point bipolar rating scale developed by Moffitt and Silva (1988). For those offenses judged to be most serious, the four groups showed similar ratings. For the offenses that were judged to be least serious, there was less agreement among groups in the assigning of seriousness values. Police deemed some status, drug, and good-order offenses to be significantly more serious than did the other groups. The eight most serious offenses in the order of their rating were forcing sex, weapon fight, blackmailing, drunk driving, starting a fire, breaking in, assaulting others, and vandalizing public property. 1 table and 12 references