spacer spacer spacer
JRSA's IBR Resource Center
Return to Main Page
Background and Status of Incident-Based Reporting and NIBRS
State Profiles
Using Incident-Based and NIBRS Data
References and Related Sites
Available Syntax and Sample Data Files
line divider
IBRRC Fact Sheet
Contribute Information
Site Map
Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) Home
 
Notice of Federal Funding and Federal Disclaimer
  

Juvenile Multiple Segment Analysis

Research Question 4: What offenses are reported in juvenile multiple offender incidents in which the most serious offense is a Part I Index property crime?

The data source for this research question is the 1996 NIBRS hierarchical data file. There were 1,487 agencies in nine states reporting during 1996. The file used for the analysis of Research Questions 1, 2, and 3 is an incident-level aggregated flat file, created by combining multiple segments of data. (See Creating an Incident-Level Aggregate Flat File for a detailed explanation of this process.) Variables from the following segments were used: administrative, victim, offender, offense, arrest, and property. Although these six segments were used, not all variables from all segments were needed for this analysis.

For this research question, however, an offense level of analysis is required to examine all of the offenses that are reported in juvenile multiple offender incidents where a Part I index property offense is the most serious offense. To create a file for an offense level of analysis, the incident-level aggregated flat file was matched to the offense segment. The offense segment contains information on all of the offenses in an incident.

The frequency distribution for property offenses shows that 28.3% of the offenses identified in juvenile multiple offender incidents were shoplifting offenses. The next most frequently reported property offenses were burglary/breaking and entering (18.9%), all other larceny (16.1%), and theft from a motor vehicle (9.9%). Interestingly, there are some person crimes, such as kidnapping/abduction and forcible fondling, reported along with the property offenses. This is because the unit of analysis is offense, which allows one to see all offenses that were committed in the incidents. At the incident unit of analysis, which was used in Research Questions 1, 2, and 3, only the most serious offense was ascertainable.



Additional analyses might address the time of day the offenses are being committed, the demographics of the offenders, the composition of the juvenile multiple offender incidents (do they include adults?), etc.

To view the code showing this process, including narrative text, select an
option:

To download the code, select an option: