Crack-violence Connection Within a Population of Hard-core Adolescent Offenders (From Drugs and Violence: Causes, Correlates, and Consequences, P 92-111, 1990, Mario De La Rosa, Elizabeth Y Lambert, Bernard Gropper, eds. -- See NCJ-128781)

• NCJ Number: 128786
• Author(s): J A Inciardi
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; Superintendent of Documents
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Information from 611 seriously delinquent Miami youth formed the basis of an analysis of the relationship between their patterns of violent criminal behavior and crack use.

Abstract

The participants were located through "snowball" sampling using multiple starting points. Their average age was 15, and 83.6 percent were males. All had committed at least 10 FBI index offenses or 100 lesser crimes in the previous 12 months and regularly used 1 or more illegal drugs during the 90 days before the interview. Results showed that the youths began their drug use with alcohol experimentation at age 7.6 years. Their first crimes occurred at an average age of 11, and more than 90 percent had engaged in drug sales and thefts before age 12. Youths who were more deeply involved in crack-dealing activities were more likely to commit violent crimes than were those less involved with drugs and the crack distribution network. Results also suggested that much of the current focus on crack-related violence may be more the result of a media event than an emergent trend and that adolescent crack distribution does not necessarily mean youth gang crack distribution. Nevertheless, crack distribution by hard-core adolescent offenders is highly criminogenic. Figure, tables, footnotes, and 16 references