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Substance Abuse and Crime
Drug--Related Crime
Drug
Review of the
Drug--Crime Connection
Drug
Scenario 1: Drugs as crime
Scenario 2: Drugs
g causing
g crime
Scenario 3: Drugs and crime
influenced by common variables
Perspectives on the DrugDrug-Crime
Connection: Policy Implications
DRUGS
CONDITIONS
CRIME
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Youth Violence and Illicit Drug Use
NSDUH research indicates strong link
Dimensions
– General SA and violence
– Variation across drug type & frequency of use
– Variation across youth & community
characteristics
Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Engaging in Past Year Violent
Behavior, by Number of Illicit Drugs Used in the Past Year
Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Engaging in Past Year
Violent Behavior, by Type of Illicit Drug Used in Past Year
2
Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Who Took Part in
Serious Fighting at School or Work in the Past Year, by
Level of Alcohol Use: 2003
Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Who Took Part in
Group-Against-Group Fight in the Past Year, by Level of
Alcohol Use: 2003
Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Who Carried a Handgun in
the Past Year, by Level of Alcohol Use: 2003
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What is it about drugs that may
contribute to crime?
Direct (pharmacological) effects?
Cost of drugs to drug users?
User characteristics?
Legal status?
Three Models of Drugs & Crime (Goode)
Enslavement (aka medical) model
– People “enslaved” by drug use
– Normally law abiding, but commit crimes to support
habit
Predisposition (aka criminal) model
– Drug users/addicts as deviant rulebreakers
– Drug use as reflection of antisocial tendencies
Intensification model
– “Middle ground” based on empirical evidence
– Drug use intensifies and perpetuates criminal
behaviors
Goldstein’s Framework
Based on study of NYC homicides
in1980’s
Tri--partite Typology
Tri
y
gy
– Pharmacological Violence
– Economic
Economic--Compulsive Violence
– Systemic Violence
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Evidence Regarding Goldstein’s
Framework
Pharmacological--driven Violence
Pharmacological
– Prominence of alcohol
– Facilitator as opposed to predictor
– Little evidence of other drugs routinely leading to pharmacological
violence
Economic-compulsive Violence
Economic– Strong evidence for phenomenon
– Shift in robbery
robbery--burglary trends during surge in crack use
Systemic Violence
– Strongest relationship of the three
– Prominent in debates over legalization and decriminalization
– Occurs most in environments that:
Are socially disorganized (absence of social controls)
Have high rates of interpersonal violence
Economically disadvantaged
Selective Inhibition Hypothesis
Argues against deterministic/universal
view of substances causing violence
Multiple social factors influencing potential
for violent responses
– Actor relationships
– Cultural norms of actors
– Situational factors
– Actions (or inactions) of bystanders
Role of Psychopathology
Co--Occurring Disorders
Co
– Substance abuse/dependence with Axis I
mental illness
– Substance abuse/dependence with Axis II
personality disorder
Role of substance abuse in prediction of
violence among individuals with SMI
“Self--medication” of individuals with APD
“Self
– Some drugs may in fact decrease risk of
violence
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Goldstein’s Framework Revisited
Tri--partite Typology
Tri
– Pharmacological Violence
– Economic
Economic--Compulsive Violence
– Systemic Violence
All three assume simple and direct association
between drugs and violence
Roots of violence actually quite complex
– Antecedent influences (developmental, cultural)
– Conditional influences (pharmacological, social,
economic, situational)
Need for more interactive perspective
Perspectives on the DrugDrug-Crime
Connection: Policy Implications
DRUGS
CONDITIONS
CRIME
6