Disclosure of delinquent behavior under conditions of anonymity and nonanonymity.

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine whether anonymity is a necessary condition for candid self-report of antisocial behavior. A checklist of antisocial behaviors was filled out both anonymously and nonanonymously by high school and delinquent boys. Although both groups disclosed more antisocial behavior when protected by anonymity, differences in scores under the 2 administration s were comparatively small. The changes in candor were also more pronounced for slight infractions than for serious violations. Correlational analysis showed that individuals maintained about the same ranking on antisocial behavior in both administrations of the checklist. Scores on the 2 administration s of the checklist correlated equally highly with other criteria of delinquency. It was concluded that the importance of anonymity has been overemphasized in research on delinquency using self-report techniques. A number of recent delinquency researchers, dissatisfied with the proliferation of research comparing institutionalized delinquents and nondelinquents, have turned to the study of self-reported adolescent misbehavior. This method has yielded some provocative findings (e.g., Short & Nye, 1958), and has revitalized old and fundamental questions about delinquency. A resurgence of interest in socioeconomic status and delinquency, for example, is partly attributable to the impact of this method. Few investigators, however, have tried to study the validity of the self-report method in delinquency research. An obstacle to such studies is the anonymity under which reports of antisocial behavior are made. Anonymous reports of antisocial behavior usually cannot be related to data on boys available from other sources. Predictive, longitudinal, and other validity studies become difficult, if not impossible, when boys do not sign their names to checklists of delinquent behavior. Short and Nye (1958), however, stress the importance of anonymity. According to these authors, rapport can only be obtained where boys have nothing to gain either by withholding or distorting information. Recent in