NCJ Number
175981
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 25 Issue: 3 Dated: September 1998 Pages: 283-305
Date Published
1998
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This Arizona study investigated the relationship between crimes that are specifically alcohol-related or drug-related and those that are not, using principal component analysis (PCA) to develop indicators of alcohol or drug abuse.
Abstract
Crime data were obtained from Arizona Uniform Crime Reports for 1988 to 1993. Generally, alcohol use and abuse tend to be associated with violence, reduced inhibition, and reduced judgment. A high proportion of homicides are alcohol-related, with both the offender and the victim likely to have been drinking. Most drug-related homicides involve the distribution of crack. Other drugs such as stimulants, barbiturates, and PCP are thought to incite violence from users; whereas, for heroin and cocaine, most of the crimes are economically motivated. In this study, the grouping of the crimes into alcohol and drug factors was generally consistent with the literature on crimes perpetrated by alcohol and drug abusers, and was similar for males and females. The only gender differences were that aggravated assault loaded highly on the alcohol factor only for males, and liquor law violations loaded highly only for females. The results show that the PCA is a useful tool for developing crime indicators for alcohol and drug abuse. 6 tables, appended supplementary information, and 26 references