Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Marvin E. Wolfgang
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Biological and environmental influences on crime
- 2 Violent criminals as children and as adults
- 3 Intelligence and crime
- 4 Biological and environmental predictors of crime
- 5 Case studies of violent and career criminals
- 6 Biology and responsibility
- Appendix: Selection and distribution of Biosocial Project variables
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Appendix: Selection and distribution of Biosocial Project variables
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Marvin E. Wolfgang
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Biological and environmental influences on crime
- 2 Violent criminals as children and as adults
- 3 Intelligence and crime
- 4 Biological and environmental predictors of crime
- 5 Case studies of violent and career criminals
- 6 Biology and responsibility
- Appendix: Selection and distribution of Biosocial Project variables
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
For the purposes of the present study, nearly 300 Collaborative Perinatal Project variables, as well as school and delinquency variables, were selected for preliminary screening and analyses. Criteria for selection incorporated both the theoretical issues and methodological concerns presented in chapter 1 of this book.
The following sections discuss the reliability, distributions, and interrelationships of those variables used in the present study, as well as attempts to scale and aggregate the prenatal and perinatal indicators of early birth and CNS trauma.
Birth related variables
As was noted in chapter 1, there have been many attempts to measure or scale birth related events with the Collaborative Perinatal Project (hereafter CPP) data and other kinds of data sets. Unfortunately, few attempts have been made to assess the reliability of these measures in terms of either the relationships among the individual indicators used for scaling or the subjective weights of seriousness applied to them by experienced examiners.
For the purposes of this study, the interrelationships among 38 selected indicators of prenatal and perinatal stress were examined preliminarily for possible scale construction. The nature and extent of birth related events were assessed by trained physicians with detailed instructions provided by the CPP on how to record data. Altogether, 31 variables were treated dichotomously: 11 variables were true dichotomies and 20 variables were classified into dichotomies. Seven variables were treated as continuous.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Biology and ViolenceFrom Birth to Adulthood, pp. 127 - 187Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1990