NCJ Number
171724
Journal
Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: May 1996 Pages: 17-24
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Data from 688 arrestees in the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) in San Antonio, Tex., were used to study the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, drug use, drug-related activities, high-risk behavior, and feelings of drug dependency with readiness for drug treatment among Mexican American, black, and white arrestees.
Abstract
The participants all tested for heroin or cocaine and admitted using these drugs sometime in their life. Data were analyzed using a series of step-wise forward regressions. Results revealed the most significant predictors and odds ratios for wanting treatment for each ethnic group and that each ethnic group had a distinct pattern predicting help-seeking behaviors, ranging from a highly complicated one for Mexican Americans to a less complicated model for African Americans. The strongest predictors for Mexican Americans were feeling dependent on heroin and on marijuana (more than doubling the odds). Using heroin every day tripled the odds for black persons, while the money spent on drugs and not having full-time employment were also strong predictors of readiness for treatment. The odds of help seeking tripled for whites feeling dependent on alcohol, while using heroin every day, injecting cocaine, and money spent on drugs doubled the odds of readiness for treatment. Findings implied that a more creative attention to the specific complexes of sociological and social psychological variables associated with ethnic groups would lead to progress both in scientific theory construction and the planning of prevention interventions in these groups. Tables, note, and 36 references (Author abstract modified)