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<A HREF="http://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/180/drgcrime.html">Drugs and Crime</A>
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Drugs and Crime
(See: Drugs in American Society, 5th edition, Erich Goode, McGraw-Hill,
1999 . Chapter 5.)
Thomas Szasz, in Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs,
Addicts, and Pushers (1985), suggests that we have, through our
definition of certain drugs as evil, created a new population of
scapegoats. As the religious ideologies of the past have been replaced
by the therapeutic ideologies of the present; we have replaced the
witches of earlier days with the "addict-criminals" of today. Just as
the discovery and control of witches required the development, and in
turn sustained, the institution of the inquisition, the treatment and
control of the "addict-criminal" becomes the focus of activity for the "
criminal justice industry."
These extrapolations of the ideas of Szasz provide us with an
interesting backdrop for exploring the social reality of the drugs-crime
connection.
Central Concerns:
•Does drug use cause crime?
•Is there some intrinsic property associated with certain drugs that
leads the user to engage in criminal behavior?
•Do drugs (drug use) cause violence?
•Do drugs (drug use) destroy the human community?
•Does crime or criminal behavior, perhaps, lead people into drug use?
•What drugs (drug use) are we talking about?
1.legal instrumental?
2.legal recreational?
3.Illegal instrumental?
4.Illegal recreational?
•What crime are we talking about?
1.White collar?
2.Institutional?
3.Street Crime?
4.Crimes of Violence?
5.Property Crime?
Crime
Index Crimes:
1.Murder (9.4/100,000)
2.Rape (41/100,000)
3.Robbery (257/100,000)
4.Aggravated Assault (430/100,000)
5.Burglary (1,235/100,000)
6.Larceny-Theft (3,200/100,000)
7.Motor Vehicle (658/100,000)
These are the crimes that most of us are concerned with and that we
associate with the use of drugs
•Not all crimes are violent, MOST aren't (13 million vs. 2 million)
•Those who engage in criminal activity are not all the same
•Property criminals; NOT necessarily violent
•Violent offenders; typically property crimes, too.
Key Elements of Understanding Criminal Behavior
1.Most crime committed by small number of people (6%). Violent crime
extremely concentrated. Occasional crime widespread, few are repeat
serious offenders.
2.Not much specialization, wide range of offenses. But, non-serious are
not linked to serious; serious are linked to non-serious.
3.Certain crimes predict involvement in others
4.As per #3, robbery==> criminal lifestyle
5.As per #3, violent crimes==> also economic, and lifestyle
6.Career pattern: Early involvement (J.D.- esp. Violent and frequent),
but most juvies do not become adult offenders
7.Correlates of J.D. and Crime: school problems, poverty (inequality),
lower IQ, problematic parenting, abuse. (Independent of drug use in
terms of influencing crime) (also correlates to drug use)
8.Low probability of arrest, more frequent offenders-- lower probability
per offense: Inciardi (Miami study)- 118,134 criminal events==> 286
arrests (1/413 crimes, for index crimes- 1/292. Criminal career (males)
13 years==> 3.5 arrests
9.There is little deterrent effect, especially for frequent, serious
offender
Empiricism, Correlation, and Causation
•Drug use and criminality are very positively correlated
•No study has failed to find the correlation
•Users of Drugs are extremely more likely to:
1.Participate in a wide variety of criminal activity
2.Engage in more violent crime
3.Engage in more serious crime
•The more one uses drugs, the more likely one is to be involved in
criminal activity
•One of the FEW established and agreed upon links
Studies:
Research Note: Validity of Self-Reports?
•Don't discount users perspective
•Cross check with other studies
•People are surprisingly honest, forgetful.
•Interviews need to be specific: Many of the studies cited and included
in your readings demonstrate the difference between responses to general
questions and specific ones.
•Bruce Johnson's Taking Care of Business: Most addicts if asked how much
heroin they use will over estimate by a factor of 2 or 3.
O'Donnell 1976
(In Goode, 1999)
Alcohol Drinkers
Shoplift
Break/Enter
Non-drinkers
16%
5%
Light drinkers
31%
6%
Heavy Drinkers
56%
18%
Illicit Drug Users
Shoplift
B and E
No illicit use
29%
6%
Marijuana
35%
~8%
Marijuana and other drugs
56%
~18%
Drugs other than Marijuana
62%
24%
There was a perfect, stepwise increase of likelihood of criminal
activity related to the extent of involvement with the drug: The more
one used a drug the greater the likelihood of engaging in a range of
criminal activity.
Nurco, Kinlock, and Hanlon, "The Drugs-Crime Connection"
Focus on Variations, Prevalence, and Inconsistencies
•Variety of user/addicts: studies typically don't take into account
•Problem of official statistics ("rap sheets") vs self-reports.
Baltimore study-243 addicts, 2,869 arrests over 11 years; but 473,738
crime days==> ratio arrests/days: .006
•Gauging criminal activity of users requires more sophistication
•Self-reports: structured, anonymous, interviewer with knowledge of
subculture, specific temporal references
•Measurement should reflect crime days/year at risk. Over time
variations- cycles of use and non-use. Means: 250-260 crime days/year
during use cycle; 65 days/year during non-use.
•Types of Addicts: use dimension (quantity and frequency); crime
dimension==> Successful Criminal and Working Addict
•Types of Crime (rank ordering) (Sample 375 users, 3 years, 215,015
offenses) 1.Drug sales (50%) (Inciardi 38%) (Johnson sales 34%, buys
28%)
2.Larceny theft
3.Shoplifting
4.Burglaries
5.Robbery/assault/auto theft •It's a subcultural mix of drugs and crime!
Focus: Violent Crime:
•Small part of population, lot's of crime
•Inciardi: 573 users, 6,000 violent crimes (2.8%) of their total
criminal offenses.
•NY study 1981 ~40% murders==> drug related.
•1993 statistics: Nationwide ~6% of homicides, in largest urban areas:
18% homicide offenders, 16% victims (7% both).
Drug Testing Studies (DUF: Drug Use Forecasting in pdf format)or in text
•Drugs in system (no etoh) at time of arrest
•Very high levels here
•Some cities (St. Louis) 70-80%
•Average 58% (males); 64% (females)
•Cocaine: most common 41 (m); 47% (f)
•Marijuana: 20% (m); 13% (f) {longer detection period}
•Opiates: 8% (m); 12% (f)
Self Reports by Jail and Prison Inmates
•UTI at time of offense: 1979- 32%; 1991- 31% (robbery and burglary
highest)
•Heroin use ~25 times the rate of general population
•All illicit drug use ~3X the rate
•50% of prison inmates in 1991 report having used illicit drug in the
month prior to their offense (43% in 1986 on a daily basis)
•The more drugs used, and the "harder" the drugs; the greater the number
of prior offenses
BUT: These striking correlations do not mean:
•That all drug users are criminals
•That all criminals are drug users
•That non-drug users do not commit crimes
•That non-criminals are non-drug users
Problems in the Drugs-Crime Link
•What do we mean by cause: Direct (psychopharmacological) or Indirect?
•Drug use causes crime because members of the drug using subculture have
higher rates of criminality (is it the drugs that cause the behavior?)
•Finally, problem exists that the same categories of people who are
likely to use drugs are also the same categories of people who have
higher rates of criminal activity.
•So problems in sorting through all the connections, correlations and
spurious relationships
•Illicit Drugs and Crime, Benson, Bruce L., and David W. Rasmussen
. Independent Policy Report: Illicit Drugs and Crime. Oakland, CA: The
Independent Institute, 1996.
•The Youth Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Connection (pdf file) (Juvenile
Justice Bulletin, by James Howell and Scott Decker)
•Street Gangs and Drug Sales in Two Suburban Cities (pdf file) (Juvenile
Justice Bulletin, by Cheryl Maxon)
•Goode: Beyond Politics and Reason- Drugs and Crime•Enslavement
(medical-maiuntenance model)
•Criminal
•Intensification
Goldstein: "The Drugs/Violence Nexus"
•Psychopharmacological: Direct cause
•Drug produces changes that increases aggressiveness
•Alcohol
•Barbiturates
•?PCP?
•?Cocaine?
•Psychoactive Substances and Violence (J. Roth, 1994, NIJ): "Of all
psychoactive substances, alcohol is the only one whose consumption has
been shown to commonly increase aggression. After large doses of..(other
drugs)... certain individuals may experience violent outbursts, probably
because of preexisting psychosis.
Economic-Compulsive
•Crime as instrumental: pay for expensive habit
•Typically non-violent: Larceny-theft, burglary
•But, robbery rates high-- Heroin, Cocaine
Systemic (.pdf format)
•Violence as an integral part of the structure and culture of illicit
drug use
•Turf
•Sales difficulties (the customer is not always right)
•Employee control
•Community disorganization
Go to National Institute of Justice publication page for additional
resources.
Marijuana and Crime
•Early: Killer Weed
•1970: National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse
•Overwhelming current evidence: No violence/aggression
•But, users-- more offenses 1.Other drug use
2.Marijuana only: close to non-users
3.Significance of friends, subcultural involvement
Johnson (1973): Same patterns, But:
•User, no subcultural involvement less likely than occasional user who
is involved.
Indication: Relationship frivolous, but marijuana used by many
offenders.
Alcohol and Violence
•Most likely to be involved of all drugs
•Most offenders, UTI: Commonly used
•Psychopharmacological?
•Studies difficult and flawed (etoh cause, how drunk, etc.)
•Males use more, and offend more
•Consumed during periods crime is more likely (weekends)
•UTI==> excuse: Drunken comportment- Cultural norm
•Still: Violence and Alcohol==> "Peas in a Pod"
Violent Death and Alcohol
•Wolfgang (1958) 60% of killers (lots of confirmation)
•Victims, too. 25-66%
•Murder interaction: 1.Victim precipitation
2.Victim selection
3.Reciprocity: Male on male •Highly correlated with all forms of
violent/accidental death
•ALCOHOL==> Precursor to violent death
Alcohol and Assault
•Same Pattern as with murder
•Assault-Homicide: Do both parties survive?
•Over 60% of known interactions
•Juveniles use marijuana as frequently, yet it is half as likely to be
present
•Juvies: ETOH==> 2nd most likely to==> fight (Seconal- #1)
•Sexual assault: 40% convicted, 2/3 molesters, 40-65% overall
Causal Link?
•ETOH one of a number of factors
•High correlation
•Social context: causal in this society
•Most violence not ascribed to etoh: institutional, ideological
•All things equal: Direct effect in portion of U.S. violence
Heroin and Violent Crime
•Pre- 1970: Image=> NO. Heroin use was associated with Rational crimes
(economic compulsive). Violence was accidental.
•After 1970: ? Violence and street life. Homicide leading cause of death
for user.
•Psychopharmacological or Subcultural Shift? 1.Impact of withdrawal
2.Robbery and $==> common. Victim confrontation
3.Post 1970: Addict involved in crime prior to drug subculture
4.Post 1970: Poly drug use: Alcohol and cocaine
5.Now: Use of heroin==> strong link to violent behavior (convicted
felons- high rates of use)
6.Yet, use stable ( even down for a time); cocaine ?
Heroin and Predatory Crime
Inciardi: Heroin users
•Challenges simplistic economic-compulsive model
•Users engage in a variety of crime, vastly more likely than non-users
•200 crime days/year (5-10x more than non-users)
•Use more, more variety, more serious
•Low arrest probability
•Males: Alcohol==> Crime==> Drugs
•Females==> complex variations
•Simple cause-effect: futile
•Similar to Nurco, Kinlock, and Hanlon
Johnson: "Taking Care of Business"
•Not all physically addicted (dependent, yes)
•1/3 irregular; 1/3 regular; 1/3 daily (classic junkie- rare)
•Yet: Compulsive: crime is significant
•Most not driven to "avoid withdrawal," yet driven none the less
•Most regular users do not become dependent: erratic use patterns, small
amount, $ problems- makes long term continual use unlikely
•Users spend a lot less than assumed: Image- $150-300/day; BUT average
income from crime==> $38/day (daily user==> $52)
•Calculated cost of habit problematic: # of shots, size and cost:
Johnson- 1.Irregular==> Say $25, accurate review==> $4!!!!
2.Higher frequency of use, closer estimate, BUT still off by 50%. Daily
user==> $36
3.Entire sample estimated average: $43; Actual: $18
4.Forget about non-use days •Most money comes from other sources 1.
Robbery, Burglary, Shoplift: 44% (2/3 all crime income)
2.Drug sales: most of income
3.Day labor
4.More frequent the use, less cash used (daily 58%==> $)
5."Avoidance of drug expenditures": steal, beg, borrow drugs •Poly Drug
use High: Cocaine and ETOH 1.Daily: very high levels
2.2/3 of days==> 6 oz of Alcohol, 1/4 of days==> Cocaine
3.Irregular- Cost of cocaine too high
Heroin and Crime: Summary
•Use drives crime
•Most involved prior to use
•Illegality seems to make things worse
•"Curing" addiction will not solve problem
Cocaine and Violence
•Pharmacological properties: seems more likely (yet BIJ study)
•Drug of choice for Robbers
•Crimes with violence as primary motive (vs. Robbery) 1.LA- Homicide
victims (late 80's- 20%), now: most frequently detected drug.
2.Question: predispose to violence or expose to violence
3.NY (1988): 1/3 of all homicides involved cocaine. 60% of drug related
homicides=> Crack. Powdered cocaine: 12% of all, 22% of drug related.
4.84% of all drug related violent deaths--Cocaine (heroin only 3 of
total).
Back to Goldstein and Systemic Violence
•Seller vs. Casual user (unless sale dispute)
•Crack Trade (.pdf format): 1.Disputational: violence as leverage
2.Anarchistic
3.Seller: violent, criminal background
4.Drug trade violent in and of itself
5."Destabilized" neighborhoods
6.Powerlessness at community level
7.Decline in use==> Increase in violence!
Hamid: "Crack violence is the violence of persons reacting violently to
conditions that violate"
Cocaine and Predatory Crime
•Major correlation
•Psychopharmacological or Criminal picks up lifestyle of use?
•Cocaine and reinforcement: Use; like to use again.
•Frequency of use: lots of transactions and $$$$$. USE IS NOT CHEAPER:
Unit dosing.
•Poly drug use high
•Similar to heavy heroin users
•80-90% arrestees for robbery
•Drug of choice for "Urban Criminals"
•DUF: 41% males; 47% females
•BUT: Causality? 1.All levels of criminality go up after cocaine use, NO
form of crime BEGINS after
2.Users already criminal
3.Crack, cocaine: intensifies, accelerates criminality
Inciardi Study: Crack and Juveniles
•Social context
•Social circles of users, criminals overlap
•Crime, Crack, and other drugs: Markers of entrance into deviant,
criminal subculture
•Individuals already characterized by "Non-traditional Lifestyle"
(employment problems, school dropout, marital problems, etc.
(Problem-prone behavior)
•Crime intensified through subcultural development
Thrill
•Take away Crack? Depends on what replaces it.
1.No drug==> Crime will drop
2.Heroin==> no change
3.Alcohol==> Violence up, predatory down
1990's Trends
•Cocaine and Crack use down a bit (frequent use still high)
•Heroin stable to increasing number of users, potency and availability
up
•Crime: Interesting decrease in levels of criminal activity (index
crimes, especially violent)
•Drug use appears even more significantly correlated with crime:
Regular, frequent, heavy users-- Maintenance of a permanent class of
criminals???
Alcohol
URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/180/drgcrime.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
References and Credits for this Page of Notes
Last Updated: Monday, July 12, 1999
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