THE AGE-CRIME DEBATE - ASSESSING THE LIMITS OF LONGITUDINAL SELF-REPORT DATA

Research presented in this article addresses some of the competing cla ims about the value of prospective longitudinal self-report data for s tudying the relationship between age and crime More specifically, the debate over the magnitude of potential testing effects in longitudinal data is assessed by analyzing involvement in delinquency, serious off ending, and victimization using self-report data from the first five w aves of the National Youth Survey. The results of growth curve analyse s suggest that panel and maturation effects warrant serious concern in longitudinal studies that rely on self-report information. The analys es show that regardless of the subject's age at the start of data coll ection, average self-reported involvement in crime declined substantia lly over time. Data from external sources suggest that period effects are not responsible for this decline. Furthermore, while traditional m easures of delinquency are reliable for studying between-individual di fferences in crime these same measures may lack the reliability necess ary for studying between-individual differences in changes in crime ov er time.