Developmentally Anchored Conceptual Model of Drug Use Tested Among Adult Boot Camp Inmates

• NCJ Number: 180020
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 29 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 49-64
• Author(s): Nancy J. Toombs; Brent B. Benda; Randy D. Tilmon
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study of 601 participants in the only boot camp for adults in Arkansas tests two theoretical models of drug use based on a developmental perspective.

Abstract

Both hypothesized models, one for younger offenders and one for older inmates, are composed of elements of social control and social learning theories. The hypothesized developmental differences, for the most part, were supported. Attachment to mother and physical abuse were related to peer association with persons who engage in deviance and these associations had a positive reciprocal relationship to drug use. Drug use among younger offenders had positive relationships to selling drugs and carrying a gun. For older offenders, religiosity and secular beliefs were the influences on peer association and those associations had a positive reciprocal relationship to feelings of alienation. Drug use among older persons was influenced by feelings of alienation, selling drugs and carrying a weapon. Figures, tables, references