DRUG ADDICTION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE (FROM ZAGADNIENIA NIEPRZYSTOSAWANIA SPOLECZNEGO I PRZESTEPCZOSCI W POLSCE, P 269-295, 1978, BY JERZY JASINSKI SEE NCJ-68628)

• NCJ Number: 68636
• Author(s): S BATAWIA
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 27 pages
• Sale Source: Polskiej Akademii Nauk
• Country: Poland

Annotation

YOUNG DRUG ADDICTS WHO COMMIT CRIMES SHOULD BE TREATED IN MEDICAL CENTERS RATHER THAN IN PRISONS, SINCE, ACCORDING TO POLISH STUDIES IMPRISONMENT LINKS THEM MORE STRONGLY WITH THE SUBCULTURE OF DRUG TAKERS.

Abstract

DRUG ADDICTION IN POLAND IS NOT A SOCIAL PROBLEM, SINCE THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PERSONS WHO TAKE DRUGS IS VERY SMALL. THE RESULTS OF SEVERAL QUESTIONNAIRES SENT TO SCHOOLS IN 1972 AND 1973 SHOWED THAT LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF THE STUDENTS TOOK DRUGS. STUDIES OF YOUTHS UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE WHO WERE UNDER PSYCHIATRIC CARE AS A RESULT OF DRUG USE SHOWED THAT THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF DRUG USE BY THE YOUTHS ARE EARLY CHILDHOOD DISTURBANCES (31 PERCENT), BEHAVIOR DIFFICULTIES (FROM 50 TO 75 PERCENT), AND PROBLEMS AT HOME (ABOUT 50 PERCENT). THE STUDIES ALSO SHOWED THAT AMONG THE MOTIVES OF DRUG TAKING, THE MOST COMMON WERE CURIOSITY (67 PERCENT) AND PEER PRESSURE (33 PERCENT). IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS POLAND, WHERE DRUG ADDICTION IS NOT WIDESPREAD AMONG THE YOUNG AND CRIMES CAUSED BY DRUG ADDICTION ARE RARE (IN 1976, ONLY 34 PERSONS WERE SUSPECTED OF ILLEGAL POSSESSION AND DRUG DEALING), EVERY CASE OF REPETITIVE DRUG TAKING SHOULD BE APPROACHED FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, WITH CONSIDERATION OF THE FAMILY BACKGROUND. THE IMPRISONMENT OF DRUG ADDICTS WHO COMMIT CRIMES SHOULD BE AVOIDED, SINCE INSTITUTIONALIZATION LINKS THEM MORE STRONGLY WITH THE SUBCULTURE OF DRUG TAKERS, STIGMATISES THEM, INCREASES THEIR ALIENATION, AND LEADS TO COMPLETE SOCIAL DEGRADATION. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. --IN POLISH.