Click download link to download full text.
Description: The Social Attribution Theory, which suggests that respondents respond in ways to meet the norms and expectations that they perceive are held by the interviewer, and the Social Distance Theory, which suggests that respondents provide more truthful answers when they share common characteristics with the interviewer, have been used by previous studies to explain differences in interviewees' responses. Examining these two theories further, arrestees' responses from seven quarters of data from the Charlotte, North Carolina Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) site were used to study the impact of interviewers' characteristics and on-the-job experience on arrestees' willingness to respond to the ADAM questionnaire and submit to a urine sample. Although experience does appear to impact consent, shared race, gender, and similar age have greater impact on gaining agreement to be interviewed. These results tend to more strongly suggest the applicability of Social Distance Theory.
Suggested Citation:
Lord, V. B., Friday, P. C., & Brennan, P. K. (2005). The Effects of Interviewer Characteristics on Arrestees' Responses to Drug-Related Questions [Electronic Version]. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice,
1(1), 36-55.
Keywords:
Date: Feb 04, 2005 | File Size: 243.14 Kb | Downloads: 2778