NCJ Number
224123
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 38 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2008 Pages: 601-630
Date Published
2008
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study examined the link between substance use and crime by modeling change within a sample of 157 chronic drug-using offenders over an 11-month period.
Abstract
The study found that substance use was related to increased levels of crime over time. Specifically, the use of alcohol, cocaine, or heroin were related to increases in self-reports of income-generating crime but not violent crime. There was no support for the hypothesis that alcohol use would have a larger effect on violent crime than on income-generating crime. The study found that drug treatment in the last month had a significant effect on income-generating crime, but not on violent crime. Drug treatment in the previous months reduced the probability of using cocaine or heroin in the current month from 14.7 percent to 1.8 percent. There was evidence that reducing drug use through treatment translated into a reduction in income-generating crime. Given these findings, the authors recommend redoubling substance abuse treatment for chronic, drug-involved offenders as a means of reducing property crime. Data for this study were derived from a subset of 157 chronic drug-using offenders in a larger study of the Baltimore City drug treatment court (DTC). Eligible DTC offenders were randomly assigned to the DTC (treatment condition) or to standard adjudication (control condition). Study data came primarily from interviews with the study participants approximately 3 years after they were randomly assigned to conditions. Subjects were interviewed between February 2000 and November 2001. 5 tables, 12 notes, and 64 references