Self-Reported Delinquency Scale

Abstract

The Self-Reported Delinquency Scale (SRDS) is a fundamental, widely adopted self-report questionnaire designed for the quantitative measurement of antisocial and delinquent activities. Primarily utilized within youth and adolescent populations, the SRDS captures both the frequency and perceived severity of behaviors that violate legal statutes or societal norms. The comprehensive version typically comprises 36 items, spanning a broad spectrum of offenses including property damage, physical violence, substance misuse, and various status offenses. The SRDS is an essential tool in longitudinal research, clinical intervention planning, and the rigorous evaluation of programs aimed at preventing delinquency, often yielding critical data regarding criminal involvement that may be absent from official administrative records.

Keywords

Delinquency, Antisocial Behavior, Juvenile Justice, Self-Report, Criminology, Adolescent Crime, Behavior Assessment, SRDS, Longitudinal Research, Status Offenses.

Authors

The specific version of the scale referenced in this entry is attributed to research conducted by Thornberry TP, Krohn MD, Lizotte AJ, Smith CA, and Tobin K.

Purpose

The core objective of the SRDS is to establish a detailed, quantitative measure of an individual’s engagement in problem behaviors or unlawful acts over a clearly defined temporal window, such as the past year or the preceding 30 days. By relying on self-disclosure, the SRDS overcomes limitations inherent in relying solely on official records (e.g., arrest data), thereby providing a more accurate estimation of the prevalence and incidence of antisocial activity.

This comprehensive measurement is instrumental across several high-stakes applications. Firstly, it is vital for assessing the efficacy of delinquency prevention programs by enabling researchers to track behavioral changes over time. Secondly, in clinical and forensic settings, the SRDS assists in identifying the magnitude of involvement in delinquent behavior, which is essential for targeted intervention planning. Lastly, it supports large-scale academic research focused on understanding the etiology, developmental pathways, and long-term consequences of criminal conduct among youth populations.

Construct

The SRDS is designed to measure the psychological and behavioral construct of Delinquency and Antisocial Behavior. This construct is operationalized as a range of actions that violate established social norms, institutional rules (like school policies), or statutory criminal laws. The self-report methodology is crucial because it successfully captures the “dark figure” of crime—behaviors that are committed but never detected or recorded by law enforcement agencies, offering a holistic view of the respondent’s true level of involvement.

The items of the scale are systematically grouped into domains reflecting both the type and severity of the offense. These domains range from minor infractions, such as status offenses (e.g., truancy or running away), to significantly more serious criminal acts, including aggravated assault, armed robbery, and drug distribution. The aggregation of frequency scores across these diverse items yields a composite metric that reflects the overall magnitude and breadth of an individual’s engagement in antisocial activities.

Validity

The SRDS is widely acknowledged within criminological and psychological research communities for its robust validity. Empirical evidence strongly supports its concurrent validity, demonstrated by significant correlations between self-reported scores and official measures of criminal involvement, such as formal arrest histories or probation status. This correlation confirms that the scale measures what it intends to measure, aligning with external markers of delinquency.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits strong predictive validity, successfully forecasting future engagement in criminal activities and persistent antisocial conduct over time. The SRDS is sufficiently sensitive to differentiate risk levels among various groups of adolescents, allowing for effective differentiation between high-risk and low-risk individuals and tracking developmental shifts in behavior across the lifespan. The extensive range of behaviors covered by the 36 items ensures high content validity, encompassing nearly all significant categories of juvenile offenses.

Reliability

The psychometric properties of the SRDS demonstrate high levels of reliability. Specifically, the scale shows strong internal consistency, confirming that all items within the instrument coherently measure the same underlying construct of delinquent behavior. Additionally, it exhibits acceptable stability over time, as evidenced by test-retest reliability studies, ensuring that scores remain consistent when the scale is administered repeatedly under stable conditions.

The use of a structured, standardized self-report questionnaire format significantly contributes to its reliability. This standardization minimizes administrative variability and ensures that all respondents receive clear, consistent instructions regarding the definition and specific timeframe (e.g., past 30 days) of the reported acts, thereby enhancing the dependability of the resulting data.

Factor Analysis

While the specific factor structure of the SRDS can vary slightly depending on the sample and version utilized, research consistently indicates a multi-dimensional structure underlying delinquent behavior. Factor analyses typically performed on the SRDS and related self-report measures identify several distinct, yet correlated, subscales or factors that categorize the types of offenses committed by youth.

Common factors consistently extracted include: Property Offenses (e.g., theft, vandalism); Aggressive or Violent Behavior (e.g., physical fighting, assault); and Drug and Alcohol Offenses (e.g., use and sale of illicit substances). The primary utility of the SRDS often stems from its capacity to provide not only a single, cumulative severity score but also nuanced scores on these specific sub-factors, enabling a more detailed and clinically relevant assessment of the individual’s specific pattern of antisocial engagement.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire/Index

Format: 36 items presented as questions regarding specific acts committed over a defined period (e.g., past 30 days or past year).

Language Available: English (Original research context).

Population Group: Youth and Adolescents, though sometimes used with young adults in longitudinal studies.

Age Group: Typically utilized for middle school through high school ages (early adolescence into young adulthood).

Population Details: This index was used in a longitudinal study tracking youths initially in grades 7-8 in 1988, followed into adulthood.

Test Methodology: The SRDS uses a structured rating system to assess the frequency of reported behaviors. While broader versions of the SRDS may utilize a five-point Likert scale (ranging from never (0) to a high frequency (4)), the specific index detailed here, which focuses on the preceding 30 days, employs a simpler dichotomous scoring method (Yes/No). “Yes” responses are assigned a point value of 1 and then summed to produce a total score. Higher scores indicate a greater level of delinquency and antisocial involvement.

The original PDF containing this instrument can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Keywords

Property Crime, Aggression, Status Offenses, Youth Research, Longitudinal Study, Self-Reported Delinquency, SRDS, Psychometric Properties, Status Offenses.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: The instrument is included in a public health compendium published by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), which generally suggests its availability for non-commercial research use. However, securing formal permission from the original researchers (Thornberry et al.) or the copyright holders is strongly recommended prior to formal or large-scale implementation.

Fee: The scale is likely free for academic or non-commercial use, given its inclusion in a public domain resource compendium, although specific licensing fees for commercial applications are not specified.

Test Year: The primary reference detailing this index is from 2003, reporting on longitudinal data derived from cohorts that were initially tracked starting in 1988.

Reference’s

• Thornberry TP, Krohn MD, Lizotte AJ, Smith CA, Tobin K. Gangs and delinquency in developmental perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Items of the Self-Reported Delinquency Scale

In the past 30 days, have you …

1. Run away from home?
2. Skipped classes without an excuse?
3. Lied about your age to get into someplace or to buy something (for example‚ lying about your age to get into a movie or to buy alcohol)?
4. Hitchhiked a ride with a stranger?
5. Carried a hidden weapon?
6. Been loud or rowdy in a public place where somebody complained and you got in trouble?
7. Begged for money or things from strangers?
8. Made obscene telephone calls‚ such as calling someone and saying dirty things?
9. Been drunk in a public place?
10. Damaged‚ destroyed or marked up somebody else’s property on purpose?
11. Set fire on purpose or tried to set fire to a house‚ building‚ or car?
12. Avoided paying for things‚ like a movie‚ taking bus rides‚ using a computer‚ or anything else (including video games)?
13. Gone into or tried to go into a building to steal or damage something?
14. Tried to steal or actually stolen money or things worth $5 or less?
15. How about between $5 and $50?
16. How about between $50 and $100?
17. How about over $100?
18. Shoplifted or taken something from a store on purpose (including anything you already told me about)?
19. Stolen someone’s purse or wallet or picked someone’s pocket?
20. Stolen something from a car that did not belong to you?
21. Tried to buy or sell things that were stolen?
22. Taken a car or motorcycle for a ride without the owner’s permission?
23. Stolen or tried to steal a car or other motor vehicle?
24. Forged a check or used fake money to pay for something?
25. Used or tried to use a credit card‚ bank card‚ or automatic teller card without permission?
26. Tried to cheat someone by selling them something that was not what you said it was or that was worthless?
27. Attacked someone with a weapon or with the idea of seriously hurting or killing them?
28. Hit someone with the idea of hurting them (other than what you have already mentioned)?
29. Been involved in gang or posse fights?
30. Thrown objects such as rocks or bottles at people (other than what you have already mentioned)?
31. Used a weapon or force to make someone give you money or things?
32. Been paid for ha‎ving sexual relations with someone?
33. Physically hurt or threatened to hurt someone to get them to have sex with you?
34. Had or tried to have sexual relations with someone against their will (other than what you have already mentioned)?
35. Sold marijuana‚ reefer or pot?
36. Sold hard drugs such as crack‚ heroin‚ cocaine‚ LSD or acid?