Self-Reported Offending (SRO) - Subject Follow-up

This measure appears in the following time-points: Follow06, Follow12, Follow18, Follow24, Follow30, Follow36, Follow48, Follow60, Follow72, Follow84.

Click the icon to view the questions asked for this measure.

Related Construct

Offense History

Description of Measure

The Self-Reported Offending (SRO; Huizinga, Esbensen, & Weihar, 1991) was adapted for this study to measure the adolescent's account of involvement in antisocial and illegal activities. The SRO consists of 24-items which elicit subject involvement in different types of crime. For each endorsed item, a set of follow-up questions are triggered that collect more information regarding the reported offense (e.g., "How many times have you done this in the past N months?"). The follow-up items can be used to identify whether the adolescent reports doing an act within the recall period, as well whether or not the act was committed alone or with a group.

Two of the 24 SRO-items ("ever went joyriding" and "ever broke into a car to steal") were added to the Pathways research battery after a large number of subjects had completed either baseline or six-month follow-up interviews. Every subject at the follow-up interviews will have responses for 'in recall period, broke into a car to steal' while only some will have values for 'in recall period, went joyriding'. The introduction of these items produced a large amount of missing data at baseline (for both items) and at follow06 (for the 'joyriding' item) making the calculation of a consistently meaningful score difficult across all available time points. As a result, in January, 2005, the working group decided that all SRO scores would be based on 22-items instead of the full, 24-item measure administered. Thus, although 24 items are administered for the vast proportion of the interviews, the calculation of the SRO score uses only 22 of these items.

SRO scores are calculated for involvement in illegal activity over the entire follow-up period. However, it is also possible to calculate SRO scores for each month in the follow-up period. If an SRO item was endorsed, the interviewer would record which month(s) in the recall period the subject committed the act.

Following the standard for reporting in criminology, self-reported offending can be characterized in two basic ways: a variety score (the number of different types of criminal acts in which the person engages) and frequency scores (the total number of unique criminal acts committed, regardless of type). Variety and frequency scores are generally very highly correlated and are often used interchangeably for analyses. The working group, however, decided to consistently report analyses using the variety score, with the option of reporting analyses using frequency scores when the question at hand required such considerations. Variety scores are calculated here as the proportion of endorsed items divided by the number of questions answered. Items that were not asked or for which the subject replied "don't know" are removed from the denominator.

The closer the proportion score is to "1", the greater the variety of offenses the youth has committed. The following variables are generated:

Total Offending Variety Proportion -- Recall Period - [S#sroPRV]; a proportion score in which the numerator is the number of acts which were committed in the recall period and the denominator is the number of SRO questions answered (ie. not sysmis)
Total Offending Variety Proportion--No Drug-Recall Period [S#SRSEND]; a proportion score calculated in the same way as the Total Offending Variety Proportion - Recall Period variable, except that the items included in the calculation exclude three drug-related offenses (i.e., in recall period: sold marijuana, sold other illegal drugs, drove while drunk or high). The numerator is the number of acts endorsed and the denominator is the SRO items answered. Both numerator and denominator calculations are made using a set of items that excluded the three drug items.
Frequency of Offending-Recall Period [S#sroFRQ];the sum of the frequencies reported across 22 acts
Frequency of Offending-No Drug-Recall Period [S#sroFRQND]; sum of the frequencies reported across 19 non-drug items

Two sub-categories of Offending Variety are also computed: Aggressive Offending Variety (e.g., "Been in a fight?") and Income Offending Variety (e.g., "Used checks or credit cards illegally?"). These are calculated in the same manner as the variety score variables described above. That is, each of these scores is a proportion in which the numerator is the number of endorsed types of acts within the subcategory and the denominator is the number of items answered which are either aggressive offenses or income offenses. There are 11 SRO items which are coded as "aggressive", 10 SRO items which are coded as "income". Eight of the "income" items are used to calculate an "income - no drug" score as well. It should be noted that there is some overlap between the "aggressive" and "income" distinction. Specifically, the following two items are included in both the aggressive and income scales: "in recall period, took something by force with a weapon" and "in recall period, took something by force without a weapon".

Six scores can be generated for these categories of offending:

Aggressive Offending Variety Proportion -- Recall Period -[S#sroAGG]; a proportion in which the numerator is the number of aggressive acts which were committed in the recall period and the denominator is the number of aggressive offense items which are not system missing.
Aggressive Offending Frequency-Recall Period [S#AGGFRQ]; the sum of the frequencies reported across the 11 aggressive offenses
Income Offending Variety Proportion--Recall Period -[S#sroINC]; a proportion in which the numerator is the number of income offenses which were committed in the recall period and the denominator is the items which are considered income generating offenses that are not system missing.
Income Offending Variety Proportion--No Drug-Recall Period - [S#sroIND]; a proportion in which the numerator is the number of income offenses, exclusive of the 3 drug items, which were committed in the recall period and the denominator is the items which are non-drug related income generating offenses that are not system missing.
Income Offending Frequency-Recall Period [S#INCFRQ]; the sum of the frequencies reported across the 10 income offenses.
Income Offending Frequency-No Drug-Recall Period - [S#ICFQND]; the sum of the frequencies reported across the 8 non-drug income offenses.

The scales of the SRO were found to have good internal consistency: .88 for total offending variety-ever, .74 for aggressive offending variety -ever, and .80 for income offending variety-ever.

The following individual items are also available:

Whether the subject engaged in 24 types of antisocial activity over the recall period.

Destroyed/damaged property [S#SRO_DestProp]
Set fire to house/building/car/vacant lot [S#SRO_SetFire]
Entered building to steal [S#SRO_EntBldSteal]
Shoplifted [S#SRO_Shoplift]
Bought/received/sold stolen property [S#SRO_BStolen]
Used checks/credit cards illegally [S#SRO_IllCredit]
Stolen car/motorcycle [S#SRO_StoleCar]
Sold marijuana [S#SRO_SoldMar]
Sold other illegal drugs [S#SRO_SoldOthDr]
Carjacked someone [S#SRO_Carjack]
Drove drunk or high [S#SRO_DroveDrunk]
Been paid by someone for sex [S#SRO_PaidSex]
Forced someone to have sex [S#SRO_ForcedSex]
Killed someone [S#SRO_Killed]
Shot someone (where bullet hit) [S#SRO_Shot]
Shot at someone (pulled trigger) [S#SRO_ShotAt]
Too something by force using weapon [S#SRO_RobWeapon]
Took something by force no weapon [S#SRO_RobNoWeapon]
Beaten up somebody badly needed doctor [S#SRO_BeatenUp]
Been in fight [S#SRO_InFight]
Beaten up someone as part of gang [S#SRO_FightGang]
Carried a gun [S#SRO_CarrGun]
Broke into car to steal something [S#SRO_EntCarSteal]
Gone joy-riding (stole car to ride around) [S#SRO_JoyRiding]

Frequency of committing each of the following 24 SRO acts in the recall period.

Destroyed/damaged property [S#SRO_DestProp_Num]
Set fire to house/building/car/vacant lot [S#SRO_SetFire_Num]
Entered building to steal [S#SRO_EntBldSteal_Num]
Shoplifted [S#SRO_Shoplift_Num]
Bought/received/sold stolen property [S#SRO_BStolen_Num]
Used checks/credit cards illegally [S#SRO_IllCredit_Num]
Stolen car/motorcycle [S#SRO_StoleCar_Num]
Sold marijuana [S#SRO_SoldMar_Num]
Sold other illegal drugs [S#SRO_SoldOthDr_Num]
Carjacked someone [S#SRO_Carjack_Num]
Drove drunk or high [S#SRO_DroveDrunk_Num]
Been paid by someone for sex [S#SRO_PaidSex_Num]
Forced someone to have sex [S#SRO_ForcedSex_Num]
Killed someone [S#SRO_Killed_Num]
Shot someone (where bullet hit) [S#SRO_Shot_Num]
Shot at someone (pulled trigger) [S#SRO_ShotAt_Num]
Too something by force using weapon [S#SRO_RobWeapon_Num]
Took something by force no weapon [S#SRO_RobNoWeapon_Num]
Beaten up somebody badly needed doctor [S#SRO_BeatenUp_Num]
Been in fight [S#SRO_InFight_Num]
Beaten up someone as part of gang [S#SRO_FightGang_Num]
Carried a gun [S#SRO_CarrGun_Num]
Broke into car to steal something [S#SRO_EntCarSteal_Num]
Gone joy-riding (stole car to ride around) [S#SRO_JoyRiding_Num]

Whether the subject was alone or if someone was with them the last time they committed each of the following acts.

Destroyed/damaged property [S#SRO_DestProp_Group]
Set fire to house/building/car/vacant lot [S#SRO_SetFire_Group]
Entered building to steal [S#SRO_EntBldSteal_Group]
Shoplifted [S#SRO_Shoplift_Group]
Bought/received/sold stolen property [S#SRO_BStolen_Group]
Used checks/credit cards illegally [S#SRO_IllCredit_Group]
Stolen car/motorcycle [S#SRO_StoleCar_Group]
Sold marijuana [S#SRO_SoldMar_Group]
Sold other illegal drugs [S#SRO_SoldOthDr_Group]
Carjacked someone [S#SRO_Carjack_Group]
Drove drunk or high [S#SRO_DroveDrunk_Group]
Forced someone to have sex [S#SRO_ForcedSex_Group]
Killed someone [S#SRO_Killed_Group]
Shot someone (where bullet hit) [S#SRO_Shot_Group]
Shot at someone (pulled trigger) [S#SRO_ShotAt_Group]
Too something by force using weapon [S#SRO_RobWeapon_Group]
Took something by force no weapon [S#SRO_RobNoWeapon_Group]
Beaten up somebody badly needed doctor [S#SRO_BeatenUp_Group]
Been in fight [S#SRO_InFight_Group]
Beaten up someone as part of gang [S#SRO_FightGang_Group]
Broke into car to steal something [S#SRO_EntCarSteal_Group]
Gone joy-riding (stole car to ride around) [S#SRO_JoyRiding_Group]

Whether the subject had a gun with them the last time they committed each of the following acts.

Carjack someone [S#SRO_Carjack_Gun]
Forced sex [S#SRO_ForcedSex_Gun]
Killed someone [S#SRO_Killed_Gun]
Robbery with weapon [S#SRO_RobWeapon_Gun]
Fight part of gang [S#SRO_FightGang_Gun]

The specific activity in which the subject engaged during each month of the recall period (e.g., shoplifted in month 1, carjacked in month 3, was in a fight in month 4, etc.), as well as summary scores regarding antisocial activity for each month are also available. Refer to the "Antisocial Activities by month" codebook section, under the "Calendar Data" tab, for more information about the monthly items available.

Data Issues

It should be noted that the income offending and aggressive offending scores overlap on two items. Specifically, they both include S#SRO_RobWeapon 'In recall period, took by force w/ weapon' and S#SRO_RobNoWeapon 'In recall period, took by force no weapon'. This can be a problem because it will artificially increase the correlation between these two indicators. You will be less likely to get unique predictors and less likely to get discriminant variability when these two indicators are used in the same model.
The following items are excluded for the "no drug" version of the variables"

In recall period, sold marijuana
In recall period, sold other illegal drugs
In recall period, drove while drunk or high

The following ten items are used in the income offending scores:

Broke in to steal
Shoplifted
Bought/received/sold stolen prop
Used check/credit card illegally
Stole car or motorcycle
Sold marijuana
Sold other drugs
Been paid by someone for sex
Took by force with a weapon
Took by force without a weapon

The following 11 items are used in the aggressive offending scores:

Destroyed/damaged property
Set fire
Forced someone to have sex
Killed someone
Shot someone bullet hit
Shot at someone no hit
Took by force with a weapon
Took by force without a weapon
Beat up someone serious injury
In a fight
Beat someone as part of gang

Items S#SRO_EntCarSteal and S#SRO_JoyRiding were added to the questionnaire later. Therefore there are 532 cases missing values for both of these two items at baseline, and 172 cases missing the Joyriding item at the follow06 time-point. The group decision to use only 22 items was made after an initial article was published by George Knight, Michelle Little and other on the measurement invariance of the SRO measure (published in Youth Violence, Juvenile Justice in 2004). In these analyses, the investigators ran confirmatory factor analyses with all of the data and estimated means and intercepts in AMOS. They then ran the confirmatory factor analyses with no missing data, and with those items excluded. There were no appreciable differences in the overall results. In the final runs, they estimated means and intercepts. If one is using females as a separate group in analyses regarding the SRO, caution should be exercised because there is considerable missing data in a small sample.

This issue was further discussed with the working group in August, 2004. At that time, the group decided to change the way the variety scores were calculated. Instead of continuing to use the "count" function to calculate these scores, the group decided to switch to a proportion. That is, the score becomes the number of endorsed items divided by the number of items asked (in most cases 24 items, but in some, 22 items or fewer were asked).

There are missing values for 2 cases (1259 and 1834) for all SRO variables at the baseline time point. These 2 cases are missing SRO data despite having completed the full interview. We do not know why this happened.
Beginning with version 01.19, the subject is not asked this measure if the interview is conducted in a federal facility. The first case with the new logic was completed in the 36month time-point.
Interviews completed with version 01.15 or earlier can have a maximum of eight calendar months. Interviews with eight calendar months will be seen in the 06- through 36month time-points. Interviews completed with versions 01.16 and later can have a maximum of fourteen calendar months. Interviews with fourteen calendar months will first be seen in the 36month time-point.
The question "Did you have a gun with you the last time" is only asked for a sub-set of the 24 SRO items. Specifically, carjacking, forced sex, killed someone, robbed someone with a weapon, and been in a fight as part of a gang. For all other SRO items, this question is not asked.
The question "Was anyone with you the last time" is not asked for the "Paid for sex" and "Carried a gun" items. For all other SRO items, this question is asked.
For "sold marijuana", "sold other illegal drugs" and "carried a gun", the frequency is recorded as the number of days the subject engaged in the act. For all other SRO items, the frequency is recorded as the number of times the event occurred. Confusion on these items has lead to outliers on frequency scores that need to be addressed.
Some cases are missing data for this measure as a result of a bug in the programming code. Cases with this issue are noted with a missing value code of -700.

References

Elliot, D. S. ( 1990 ). National Youth Survey . Institute of Behavioral Science. University of Colorado.
Delbert S. Elliott, David Huizinga, and Scott Menard (1989) Multiple Problem Youth: Delinquency, Substance Use, and Mental Health Problems(New York: Springer-Verlag).
Huizinga, D., Esbensen, F., & Weihar, A. (1991). Are there multiple paths to delinquency? Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82, 83-118.