Detail examination of court files as a source of criminological research data

• In Event: Quantitative Methods WG Panel 1: Innovative Measurement and Data Utilization in Criminology

Abstract

One of the important research methods in Polish criminological research is an examination of criminal court files. It was applied for the first time in the 1930s and further developed and improved from the 1960s onwards. It remains an important method in the current Polish research due to the well-established contacts with courts who share their files with researchers. That type of research is not common in other countries though, with only some exceptions. It is also sometimes criticised since findings are based on highly biased information collected by courts and aimed for different purposes than research. However statistical data obtained from different public sources, including the criminal justice system, are wildly used by most scholars in their analyses.
In the paper, I would like to analyse this research method and elaborate on when and how it can be used in criminological research. I would argue that although such material should be analysed critically, court files gather a unique set of information and a lot could be extracted from this source and further analysed qualitatively or quantitatively. Those data could tell us more about the characteristics of people standing before the court and charged with a criminal offence, the act they committed (or are charged for committing), and the formal reaction of the criminal justice system to such offences and such offenders.

Author

• Witold Klaus, Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences