NCJ Number
173650
Journal
Comprehensive Psychiatry Volume: 37 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 1996 Pages: 322-327
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Interviews of 133 consecutive male convicts in one correctional facility in Massachusetts were used to study whether steroid drug use often contributed to offenses.
Abstract
The study was prompted by a forensic psychiatric evaluation of a 16-year-old male convicted of murdering his 14-year-old female friend while he was taking anabolic steroids. The youth was initially incarcerated at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Concord, Mass., which functions as a receiving facility for all men sentenced to prison in Massachusetts. He had displayed no features of antisocial personality disorder prior to steroid use and had no criminal record. The interviews of the 133 participants were confidential and lasted 15-30 minutes each. Participants were administered the alcohol and substance abuse sections of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). They were then asked if they had ever taken steroids. Those admitting to steroid use were asked in more detail about the specific drugs they had used, the doses taken, the duration of use, psychological changes in association with steroid use, and whether they perceived any relationship between their steroid use and criminal activity. A second researcher who was blind to the results of the interview later reviewed the participants' criminal records. Results revealed that nine participants had used steroids. The analysis revealed two other cases of apparent steroid-induced crimes. Findings suggested that steroid use is an uncommon but occasionally significant factor in criminal behavior. Figure and 25 references (Author abstract modified)