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CRIMINAL HISTORIES OF BURGLARY AND DRUG OFFENDERS IN SELECTED CALIFORNIA COUNTIES, 1971

NCJ Number
18761
Author(s)
H S PENN; Q J HEGNER
Date Published
1973
Length
14 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY, DESIGNED TO DETERMINE IF A RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN BURGLARY AND DRUG OFFENSES, INVESITGATED A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 283 BURGLARY OFFENDERS AND 593 DRUG OFFENDERS FROM 12 CALIFORNIA COUNTIES.
Abstract
EACH INDIVIDUAL OFFENDER RECORD IN THE SAMPLE TOTAL WAS RESEARCHED AND CODED FOR STANDARD DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION: AGE, RACE, SEX, AND PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY INFORMATION WHICH HAD A BEARING ON THE STUDY. THE RESULTS OF ALL DATA ELEMENTS RESEARCHED ARE LISTED AND THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES ARE EXPLAINED IN THE TEXT AND IN NUMEROUS TABLES. IT WAS FOUND THAT BURGLARS ARE A SMALLER AND SLIGHTLY OLDER GROUP WHO HAVE MORE FREQUENT AND MORE SERIOUS ARRESTS AND GO TO PRISON MORE OFTEN THAN DO DRUG OFFENDERS. DRUG OFFENDERS WERE ARRESTED PRIMARILY FOR MISCELLANEOUS TYPE MISDEMEANORS AND FOR OTHER DRUG OFFENSES. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT OFFENDERS ARRESTED FOR BURGLARY AND DRUG OFFENSES APPEAR TO BE FROM TWO DIFFERING SEGMENTS OF THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. NO SIGNIFICANT COMMON POINTS IN THEIR PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUNDS WERE FOUND TO INDICATE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BURGLARY AND DRUGS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)