NCJ Number
148770
Date Published
1972
Length
118 pages
Annotation
The three papers presented in this report are based on results of a 1971 survey into attitudes toward crime and drug addiction among residents of a ghetto neighborhood of New York City. The survey was designed to elicit information on the epidemiology of heroin use, criminal victimization, community awareness, and attitudes toward treatment facilities and modalities.
Abstract
The first paper was concerned with determining where drug addicts come from in the community by relating respondents' acknowledgment of heroin use by a family member or relative to their socioeconomic status, family structure, and ethnic group. The second paper explored the perceptions that neighborhood residents had about the extent of heroin use in the community. The final paper examined the degree to which survey respondents felt that a member of their family could become addicted to heroin. The primary findings of these papers were that the rate of reported heroin use varied among the different ethnic groups, being highest among Puerto Ricans, followed by American blacks, whites, and British West Indians. Younger respondents and those with a higher socioeconomic status in each ethnic group were most likely to be heroin users. Contiguity bore a stronger relationship to respondents' estimate of heroin use in the neighborhood than the variables of ethnicity or age. The groups that reported high contiguity and high estimates of heroin use were those who felt most susceptible to drug addiction. Chapter references