DOI: 10.3886/icpsr09964.v1
title: Criminal Careers, Criminal Violence, and Substance Abuse in California, 1963-1983
title: Version 1

description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the criminal
career patterns of violent offenders. These data are intended to
facilitate the development of models to predict recidivism and
violence, and to construct parole supervision programs. Original data
were collected on young male offenders in 1964 and 1965 as they
entered the California Youth Authority (CYA). At this time, data were
collected on criminal history, including current offenses, drug and
alcohol use, psychological and personality variables, and sentencing, and
demographics such as age, education, work experience, and family
structure. The data collection also contains results from a number of
standardized psychological instruments: California Psychological
Inventory, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, California
Achievement Test Battery, General Aptitude Test Battery, Army General
Classification Test, and the Revised Beta Test. After release from the
CYA and over the following 20 years, subsequent arrest information
was collected on the offenders, including the nature of the offense,
disposition, and arrest and parole dates.
description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the
 criminal histories of violent offenders. More specifically, the study
 examined the influence of drug use on offending, repeat violent
 offending over an extended time period, and the psychological
 characteristics of offenders. An important part of this research
 involved the use of standardized psychological instruments. The data
 gathered with these instruments facilitate the development of models
 to predict recidivism and violence, and to construct parole
supervision programs.
description: The research had its beginnings in the early
 1960s when California was developing innovative programs in juvenile
 justice, criminal justice, and other human services areas. Three
 Reception Guidance Centers (RGC) provided intake functions for
 California Youth Authority (CYA) wards committed by the courts to the
 agency for custody and care. The RGC at the Deuel Vocational
 Institution (DVI) in Tracy, California, processed the oldest group of
 CYA wards during this time, and the original data used in this
 research were generated and collected there. Original data were
 collected on 4,146 offenders in 1964 and 1965. The young adult
 offenders committed to the RGC-DVI spent six weeks at the center for
 diagnosis and assessment. During this time they were tested
 individually and in groups, interviewed by case workers, given medical
 and dental examinations, and approximately 1 in 10 was examined by a
 psychiatrist or a psychologist. The information generated during this
 assessment phase was systematically collected for research purposes by
 the clinical staff. A variety of psychological instruments were used
 in this process, some administered by the CYA or other government
 agencies as part of routine processing, others administered by the
 researcher. Each weekly intake group spent the first complete week in
 testing. The testing program started every Friday with an orientation
 of the group and some diagnostic tests to determine the level of the
 California Achievement Test Battery (CATB) to be given each
 individual. The standard tests were administered beginning on the
 following Monday. The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) was
 administered by test proctors from the United States Department of
 Labor, who made vocational counseling available after the testing.
 From each weekly group, 40 individuals were selected for one week of
 in-depth testing and observation in a vocational shop setting. Twenty
 individuals were assigned to the metal shop and 20 to the wood
 shop. Shop instructors evaluated subjects for training potential and
 motivation for training. The Army General Classification Test (AGCT)
 was administered only to the individuals in the intermediate and
 advanced category of the CATB testing. The Revised Beta Test was
 administered to individuals suspected of defective or borderline
 defective intelligence. For those who met a minimum reading
 achievement test, the researcher administered the Composite Opinion
 and Attitude Survey (COAS) instrument. This was done to explore in
 depth the various psychological characteristics of the offenders. The
 COAS is a combination of three other psychological instruments: the
 California Psychological Inventory, the Minnesota Multiphasic
 Personality Inventory, and the Inventory of Personal Opinions. Over
 approximately the next 20 years, arrest records were collected for the
 individuals in the original samples. Arrest histories, from the
 California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, are
 available for 3,652 of the original 4,146 individuals. A total of
54,175 arrest records are available.
description: At the time of admittance to the California Youth
 Authority, data were collected on arrest history, including current
 offenses, drug and alcohol use, psychological and personality
 variables, and sentencing, and demographics such as age, education,
 work experience, and family structure. After release from the CYA and
 over the following 20 years, subsequent arrest information was
 collected, including the nature of the offense, disposition, and parole
date.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: The data collection contains results from administering
 a number of standardized tests. These tests included: California
 Psychological Inventory, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,
 California Achievement Test Battery, General Aptitude Test Battery,
Army General Classification Test, and the Revised Beta Test.
description: The original data are comprised of a nonrandom sample of
 young male offenders who entered the California Youth Authority's
 Deuel Vocational Institute in 1964 and 1965. Arrest history records
 from the time of first arrest through 1983 were collected on 88
percent of the original sample members.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Original Data
DS2: Arrest History Data
DS3: CPI and MMPI Scale Scores
DS4: CPI and MMPI (COAS) Item Responses
description: Young offenders in California.
description: The data collection contains individuals' responses to
portions of the Composite Opinion and Attitude Survey (COAS). The COAS
is a combination of the California Personality Inventory (CPI), the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and the Inventory
of Personal Opinions (IPO). Item responses are available for the CPI
and MMPI portions of the COAS. However, due to copyright restrictions,
no descriptive text is included with the responses. An appendix that
cross-references the COAS variables to the individual items in the CPI
and MMPI instruments is provided. Information is included in the
documentation for contacting the publishers of these instruments to
obtain further information.