Abstract
BackgroundFew studies have compared self-reported criminal behaviour with high-quality databases of criminal offences and judicial sanctions. Self-reported problems from drug abusers are generally believed to be valid. We assessed the validity of self-reported theft, drug offences and prison sentences from a five-year follow-up of female substance abusers who were originally treated in a compulsory care unit in Lund, run by the Swedish Board of Institutional Care.MethodsData from a total of 106 of a consecutive sample of 132 women inter-viewed in a five-year follow-up. All were thoroughly assessed for somatic complaints, psychiatric and psychological problems, background factors with standardized instruments. Data over the five years were linked to official records of judicial sanctions, retrieved from The National Council for Crime Prevention, Stockholm, Sweden. Register data have a full cover for the whole cohort. The current data base contain full data back to 1975 up to 2004.ResultsAgreement was assessed for each year, as well as for the total period. Statistical control was performed for other types of crimes and prison. Although statistically significant, agreement was modest, and in contrast to previous studies, patients under-reported violence charges.ConclusionThe findings suggest that self-reports of criminal behaviour from women can be used with some caution, and that the validity of self-report may vary between types of criminal justice system involvement.
Highlights
Few studies have compared self-reported criminal behaviour with high-quality databases of criminal offences and judicial sanctions
Women are treated under the Law on Compulsory Care for Substance Abusers (LVM, act 1988:870) or The Care of Young Persons Act (LVU, act 1990:52)
A total of 78% were diagnosed with personality disorders according to SCID-II interview, and 60% had an axis I disorder not related to substance use
Summary
Few studies have compared self-reported criminal behaviour with high-quality databases of criminal offences and judicial sanctions. Self-reported problems from drug abusers are generally believed to be valid. We assessed the validity of self-reported theft, drug offences and prison sentences from a five-year follow-up of female substance abusers who were originally treated in a compulsory care unit in Lund, run by the Swedish Board of Institutional Care. 80ties from the USA have indicated that drug abusers tend to report more crimes than is found in official records, a finding that may indicate incomplete data in the official databases [1,2]. In a study by our group with a sample of voluntarily treated substance abusers of both genders from a detoxification and shortterm rehabilitation unit, we found that agreement for incarceration was good, but somewhat lower for drugrelated offences [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
