Criminal Careers and "Career Criminals," Volume II (1986) / Chapter Skim
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2. The Impact of Substance Abuse on Criminal Careers
2. The Impact of Substance Abuse on Criminal Careers
Pages 52-88
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From page 52... ...
Johnson OVERVIEW Approach This paper reviews what is known about how illicit drug use affects the parameters of criminal careers, especially crime rates, and suggests directions that future research should take to fill the gaps in current knowledge about drug use and crime. To accomplish these goals, we have focused on the small number of studies of drug use that permit the computation of crime rates and that provide important implications for research.
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From page 53... ...
First, studies of persons who have been arrested and processed by the criminal justice system, of unapprehended criminals on the streets, and of persons in drug treatment programs indicate that as levels of illicit drug use (especially of heroin and cocaine) increase so does criminal activity (both drug-clistribution offenses and noncirug-related serious offenses)
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From page 54... ...
Should major efforts go toward deterring the young, drug-using offender at risk of progressing to more serious drug abuse, CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS or toward deterring older persons, who may be more ready to change their ways? There is some evidence that courtordered treatment may keep persons in treatment longer and, therefore, away from drugs and crime longer.
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From page 55... ...
Both nonusers of drugs and alcohol and users of alcohol reported an average of only two or three crimes, most of them minor offenses, in the previous year. Youths who used marijuana had overall rates of crime that were three times higher than the rates for non-drug users or alcohol users.
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From page 56... ...
that violent predators, i.e., persons who reported committing robbery, assault, and drug dealing and who had very high crime rates, had extensive histories of drug use. Violent predators were more likely than others in the sample to have used hard drugs (including heroin)
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From page 57... ...
(It should be noted, however, that the data presented in Table 2 omit the high rates of drugdealing offenses among drug users. Annual rates of drug dealing were generally greater than 1,000 among the high-cost heroin users, and in the 200 to 800 range for the other groups)
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From page 58... ...
One study reported high criminality during runs of narcotics use; when narcotics use declined so did crime rates (McGIothlin, Anglin, and Wilson, 1977~. Another study reported that addicts were six times more criminally active during periods of heavy narcotics use than cluring periods of CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS lesser use (Ball et al., 19811.
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From page 59... ...
Studies that vary dramatically in the locales and populations sam 59 plecI, in the measures of crime and drug use, and in the cutting points and cIassifications of offenders and drug users have consistently found a strong association between the level of cocaine or heroin use and criminal behavior. Among the general population of youths and among adult offenders, users of these drugs have high rates of c3rug-distribution crimes and serious nondrug crimes, especially those that generate income.
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From page 60... ...
(1985) report that the average nondrug crime committed by the respondents they studied netted the of CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS fender only $35 in cash; even the most lucrative nondrug crimes (burglary and robbery)
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From page 61... ...
Analyses of a recidivism file for 7,087 arresters in the District of Columbia indicated that the percentage of arrest charges for violent crimes against persons for drug users (positive urine test) was lower than that for nonusers (Wish, 19821.
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From page 62... ...
The evidence is less definitive on the issue of whether drug use precedes or follows onset of criminal behavior, and it CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS appears that this relationship may depend on the availability of the drug and the conventional age at which its use is initiated. The typical addict studied before 1950 lic!
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From page 63... ...
It appears that heavy use of hard drugs is an excellent indicator of persons who have high rates of criminal behavior. Whether they began using drugs before or after they committee]
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From page 64... ...
the most drugs in their urine. One-half of their speci CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS mens contained cocaine, 30 percent contained opiates, 10 percent methadone, and 10 percent PCP.
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From page 65... ...
A decrease in the prevalence of recent drug use among arrestees over age 35 raises important ques 65 lions regarding the ultimate course of serious drug use among offender populations. Marijuana and Crime A Weak Link Research on the relationship between marijuana use and crime has generally found little evidence that the drug induces any type of criminal behavior other than, possibly, selling the drug.
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From page 66... ...
the media's emphasis on such events helps to give PCP a bad reputation. CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS PhencycTidine is easily synthesized and inexpensive.
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From page 67... ...
Conclusion PCP is used by persons who tend to be multiple drug users. It is one of the more common drugs used by arresters, although its prevalence varies considerably by jurisdiction.
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From page 68... ...
A study of 116 arrestees charged with the possession or sale of illicit drugs found even higher rates of recent drug use (Wish, Anderson, et al., 19841. Eighty percent of the persons interviewed within 1 to 4 hours of arrest had urine specimens that were positive for hard drugs, usually heroin or cocaine, which indicates that the drugs were probably used within the past 24 to 48 hours.
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From page 69... ...
While almost half the persons used narcotics daily when not receiving methaclone, only 6 percent used narcotics daily when they were receiving methadone. A reduction in criminal behavior from 42 to 14 percent was also found for those receiving methadone.
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From page 70... ...
Because legal pressure had a greater impact than other referral methods on persons entering a residential treatment program anct because TASC referrals stayed longer than non-TASC criminal justice referrals in outpatient clrug-free programs, Collins and Allison (1983:1148) conclude that the findings are consistent with the interpretation that "legal pressure is most effective when accompanied by monitoring or surveillance of clients' behavior." Conclusion The studies reviewed indicate that offenders apprehen~lecl by the criminal justice system may be helped if they are mandated to participate in treatment that is accompanied by strict supervision and drug surveillance over prolonged peri CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS oafs.
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From page 71... ...
These issues must be resolved before urine test results can be used effectively to plan interventions for arrestees. Conclusion It has been established in studies of arrestees in two large cities that arrestees underreport their recent use of drugs when they are interviewed in criminal justice settings and that drug users cannot be identified readily from the charge at arrest.
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From page 72... ...
Many studies have investigated how drug abuse treatment affects subsequent CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS drug use and criminal behavior. Far fewer studies have measured the impact of such criminal justice interventions as probation, parole, pretrial cliversion, and incarceration on arrestees' drug use and associated crime.
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From page 73... ...
The past practice of placing persons in the hands of criminal justice staff or treatment staff has been inadequate. Programs should offer all the services needed to address the diversity of life problems that offenders who use hard drugs invariably have (Hunt, Lipton, and Spunt, 19841.
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From page 74... ...
Thousands of persons are processed by the criminal justice system each year, yet systematic attempts to identify those who are serious drug users are rare. Although urinalysis has shown some promise as a means of detecting persons using hard drugs, more research must be done to determine how current methods of proc essing and recording information about arrestees can be improver]
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From page 75... ...
However, these studies used methods of detection (arrest charge, report of the officer, or urine tests) that have been found to have questionable ability to identify drug users.
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From page 76... ...
It is CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS the challenge of future research to establish how such a strategy can best be implementecI. APPENDIX A Methodologic Problems in Studying Substance Abuse and Crime The study of illicit hard-drug use is plaguer!
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From page 77... ...
For example, the National Youth Survey found that only between 1.5 anct 2 percent of the sample members were multiple illicit drug users and serious offenders in 1976 or 1980 (Elliott and Huizinga, 1984) , yet this group reported a disproportionate share of the crime and drug use found in the whole sample (Johnson, Wish, and Huizinga, 19831.
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From page 78... ...
One must not label a person a drug user over an entire period because the person reports being an acIdict or heavy user at one time during that pe riod. Measurement of drug use on a daily or weekly basis is needed to relate runs of drug use to changes in criminal behavior (see McGIothlin, Anglin, ant!
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From page 79... ...
Measuring Drug Use and Crime We inclicatec3 above that persons may tend to underreport their use of illicit drugs and that urine tests can help to detect instances of recent drug use. When one measures both drug use and criminal behaviors by self-reports, however, there is another potential problem.
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From page 80... ...
women arrested and acljuclicatecl in the Washington, D.C., Superior Court from 1973 to 1977 and a recidivism file containing 19,277 arrest cases (over a 6-year periocI) for a sample of 7,087 consecutive per CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS sons arrester!
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From page 81... ...
between the global indices of internal and external validity and personal characteristics or reported crime rates in the measurement period. Official records on drug involvement were so poor that checks of the self-reportec3 information on substance abuse were impossible.
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From page 82... ...
Sample: Consists of 1,725 youths selectecI as a representative sample of American youths aged 11 to 17 in 1976. Persons were reinterviewed annually CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS from 1977 to 1981 about their delinquent anc3 drug-using behaviors.
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From page 83... ...
Validity Checks: Internal checks and some corroboration by other youths; studies of adults checked urine tests against self-reports of recent use of illicit drugs and found considerable concordance. Study Design: Studies of youths involvec3 three subsamples: a random sample from school lists, a purposive sample based on field observations of deviant youths, and a sample of juveniles adjudicated as delinquent and residing in group homes or detention centers.
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From page 84... ...
Adclitional Current Studies Two ongoing studies of urine testing of arrestees, in Washington, D.C., and in New York City, have also influenced the CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS conclusions presented in this paper. The study in Washington (Toborg, 1984)
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From page 85... ...
1981 Getting over: economic alternatives to predatory crime among street drug users.
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From page 86... ...
Paper presented at a meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Denver, November. Johnson, Bruce D., Goldstein, Paul, Preble, Edward, Schmeidler, James, Lipton, Douglas S., Spunt, Barry, and Miller, Thomas 1985 Taking Care of Business: The Economics of CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS Crime by Heroin Abusers.
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From page 87... ...
1978 Phencyclidine, criminal behavior, and the defense of diminished capacity.
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From page 88... ...
National Institute on Drug CRIMINAL CAREERS AND CAREER CRIMINALS Abuse. Research Monograph No.
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