Explaining Delinquency And Drug Use - Case Study Example

The Impact of Substance Abuse on Criminal Behaviour There is a demonstrable impact of substance abuse on criminal behaviour. Such a general ment, however, is of little use without a closer examination of the specific impacts. The types of criminal behaviours that result from substance abuse, for example, tend to be limited and, in many cases, predictable. As an illustration, heroin abuse does lead to financial criminal behaviours; that is, the abusers commit crimes with the specific objective being the financing and re-financing of their heroin habits. A more general causal relationship, that substance abuse per se causes crimes in all spheres, is simply not supported by the empirical data. This type of statement is at best misleading, and at worst grossly incorrect. A more qualified approach to the impact of substance abuse on criminal behaviours is advocated in this paper. In addition to these limitations regarding the impact of substance abuse on criminal behaviour, there is also a startling body of data which suggests that the risk factors for predicting both substance abuse and criminal behaviours are in many instances the same. This suggests that the true causes of criminal behaviour may lie deeper than the convenient substance abuse theories. The root causes, in short, may be these particular risk factors rather than substance abuse. That is not to say that substance abuse does not exacerbate the severity of these risk factors, they would appear to do so, but that substance abuse is hardly a sole casual explanation for criminal behaviours. This essay will first provide a short definition of substance abuse; this is necessary for two reasons. First, an analysis of the risk factors predicting criminal behaviours also predict substance abuse. The comparison is quite illuminating. Second, criminal behaviours are often dependent on the particular type of substance abuse. Substance Abuse Substance abuse is an umbrella designation. It ranges from the abuse of legal substances to the abuse of substances deemed extraordinarily dangerous and addictive. It includes those whom use various substances recreationally (Substance Abuse by Young Offenders, 2003) and those whom are designated as addicts. The World Health Organisation, through its Expert Committee on Mental Health, in 1966, discovered a common set of risk factors contributing to alcoholism and drug dependency. As a result of these findings, they presented and suggested a "combined approach" to the definition of substance abuse, Problems of dependence on other drugs should be considered together, because of similarities of causation, interchangeability of agent in respect to maintenance of dependence and hence similarities in measures required for prevention and treatment ( ). Thereafter, they proposed that national public health authorities should analyse and treat all of the various types of dependency as related problems and under the administration of the same organisational structure. Glatt (1974) states that as drug users "commonly misuse several types of drug at the same time it is necessary, in terms of clinical diagnosis and treatment, to identify multiple drug addiction, ensuring the implementation effective rehabilitation programmes." The significance, for purposes of better understanding criminal behaviours, is that specific causal relationships can be studied. The issue of addiction is of particular importance to the analysis of criminal behaviours. This is because there is strong evidence for the proposition that addicts engage more often in criminal behaviours than non-addicts. The recreational user is less prone to commit criminal acts. That said, it is important to understand that research into the relationships that exist between substance abuse and criminal behaviours should not be limited to the hard drugs. West and Grunberg, (1991), have pointed out that the underlying behavioural and pharmacological indicators which can be used to predict addiction to tobacco are quite similar to those that indicate an addiction to drugs like cocaine and heroin. This assertion directly challenges the prevailing neurobiological addiction theories to individual drugs, and allows criminal behaviour researchers to compare their data with the addiction data. Alcohol abuse offers some interesting insights. It is frequently used with other drugs, and is often used as a substitute when a preferred substance is unavailable. Research suggests that the abuse of a single substance is rare (Miller, et. al., 1990). "Adulteration", when a variety of substances are used in combination, is frequent and a particular difficulty encountered when "scoring", and renders it nearly impossible to limit an addiction to a single substance. The resulting implications that arise from this phenomenon of multiple substance abuse, in terms of the impact on criminal behaviours, are significant. The impact that a particular substance has on the user, in addition to the larger combined effects of these substances as used simultaneously, obfuscates the analysis of criminal behaviours. It requires the control and isolation of more variables and risk factors. The abuse of alcohol is quite common among those deemed to be addicted to multiple substances. It is frequently found to co-exist with the use of nicotine and recreational drugs. More importantly, there has been established a positive correlation between criminal behaviours and alcohol use. Studies do demonstrate that a majority of substance addiction findings within a general population are both exacerbated by and made more difficult by alcohol abuse. (Miller, et. al., 1990). In short, substance abuse is a complicated field of study. It is complicated by the fact that a particular type of substance abuse rarely exists in isolation. Quite the contrary, the research suggests that multiple substance abuse is the norm. Because different types of substance abuse have proven to result in different types and different degrees of criminal behaviours it is necessary to keep this notion of multiple substance abuse clearly in mind. Analyzing Risk Factors: Substance Abuse and Crime There are also an increasing number of studies which suggest that the risk factors for substance abuse and criminal behaviours are quite similar. This makes it difficult therefore to issue categorical statements to the effect that substance abuse causes criminal behavior. Indeed, there are other factors which, in effect, cause both substance abuse and criminal behaviours. The reasons for the abusive use of substances are highly individualistic and they are at the same time varied. Individual risk factors for substance abuse and criminal behaviours include low self-esteem, social status factors like underemployment and unemployment, failure in vocational and educational endeavors, personal problems in the family, and feelings and perceptions of being excluded from social groups and opportunities. Domestic violence, for example, may result in both the abuse of drugs by a child and the engagement in criminal behaviours. It is this notion that forces the qualification of the extant to which substance abuse impacts criminal behaviours. The more telling question is whether these underlying risk factors, for instance low self-esteem, are the truest causes of both substance abuse and criminal behaviours. Does substance abuse precede criminal behaviours or do criminal behaviours precede substance abuse Do these consequences, substance abuse and criminal behaviors, manifest themselves simultaneously in certain or is there some identifiable progression Family harmony is often disrupted when a member of the family unit abuses substances. A common example, the abuse of alcohol can result in immediate financial and other practical problems. The risk factors multiply rather quickly, both in terms of the risk factors for continued substance abuse and for criminal behaviours. The family home may be at risk or a family member's status as a student or employee. The continuing disruption in the home can result in numerous and varied effects on behaviour and relationships. In the short term, this family discord may manifest itself in actions of domestic violence. It may lead to child abuse, neglect of children, and other forms of criminal behaviours. A fear of victimization may cause a family member to use drugs in order to escape. The risk factors multiply and the chances for both increased substance abuse and criminal behaviours increase quickly. The true causes of criminal behaviours, in this family context, are certainly more complicated than substance abuse alone. There a variety of factors at work. These risk factors operate in larger communities as well as within smaller family structures. To be sure, these risk factors for substance misuse and criminal behaviours have far-reaching and negative implications for the quality of life within neighborhoods and communities. It is true that many substance users abusers do not engage in criminal behaviours, but it is also true that many neighborhoods and communities often do experience crime arising from specific types of substance abuse. The illegal drugs context is a useful one. Common criminal behaviors for these types of drugs tend to involve drug possession, the manufacture of drugs, the trafficking of drugs, the larger and more particular involvement of criminal syndicates in the illegal drugs market, the types of acquisitive crime, such as burglaries, committed by abusers who need more money to buy these illegal drugs, and the consequent anti-social atmosphere and increased fear of crime that aggregated substance abuse creates within neighbourhoods and communities. The causal links between substance abuse and criminal behaviours are complex and particular, but there is no question that certain risk factors underlie both substance abuse and criminal behaviors. These factors cab become mutually reinforcing and complicate the search for precise causes. Similarly, certain risk factors may lead to alcohol abuse and criminal behaviours. The substance abuse and the criminal acts may become mutually reinforcing and make it difficult to separate cause from effect. The relationship amongst risk factors, alcohol abuse and criminal activity complex one. It is common knowledge that alcohol is often used a disinhibitor. Alcohol abuse is often invoked as an excuse, as an explanation for criminal acts and behaviours. The individual simply claims to have a drinking problem, blames the substance abuse for the criminal behaviour, and seeks to excuse himself from all responsibility. This argument ignores the presence of the other risk factors. Whilst it is true that alcohol abuse can cause some types of crime, it is usually not a sole cause. There exists a general consensus among both criminal justice and health professionals that abusive alcohol consumption may have a substantial negative impact on identifiable levels of criminal behaviours. Public drunkenness is primarily linked with the young, and the underlying risk factors of the young may explain their criminal behaviours as well as traditional substance abuse theories. In sum, it is not particularly helpful to talk about the generalized impact of substance abuse on criminal behaviours. It is more useful to discuss the risk factors which underlie both substance abuse and criminal behaviors. It is then more helpful to study the specific or true impacts of certain types of substance abuse, such as heroin or alcohol, on certain types of criminal behaviours. The True Impact of Substance Abuse on Criminal Behaviour The available research demonstrates over and over again that there does exist a relationship between substance abuse and criminal behaviour, (Nurco et al., 1989). In addition, high levels of substance abuse do exist amongst those convicted a crimes, (Innes, 1988). However, it must be noted that the fundamental manifestation of criminal behaviours is the sale of drugs; consequently, no overarching causal relationship exists between substance abuse and criminal behaviours, (Harrison & Gfroerer, 1992). In order to support a particularly strong substance habit, especially involving hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, genuine addicts may pursue burglaries for financial benefit. This does not, it must be noted, therefore establish a prima fascia case that substance abusers or addicts are thereby predisposed to criminal behaviours. There is no lack of evidence to show that an extraordinary proportion of substance abusers and drug addicts have suffered criminal convictions prior to descent into substance abuse. (Mott and Taylor, 1974). Osgood et al., (1988), suggest a milder link, that the substance abusers may exhibit a slight inclination towards criminal behaviours as a manifestation of a more generalized deviance syndrome. This milder link is buttressed by the findings of Harrison et al., (1992), who also point out that the relationship that is evident between substance use and criminal behaviours can be identified in samples of the general population. There are, as noted by the heroin example above, certain cases where the impact of substance abuse on criminal behaviours can, in some ways, be explained and predicted. In addition to the links established between heroin abuse and burglaries, there has also been established a rather clear association between alcohol abuse and delinquency, and between alcohol abuse at the time of the current criminal behaviour. These relationships have been found particularly in cases of violent criminal behaviours, (Cookson, 1992). Cookson, (1992), also notes that the excessive consumption of hard alcohol, in contrast to beer, is more frequently associated wit violent criminal behaviours. It is therefore unlikely that alcohol abuse causes criminal behaviours in respect to financial gain. Conclusions How Public Health and Criminal Justice resources are allocated to deal with criminal behaviours is the ultimate issue. If a disproportionate amount of resources are allocated to substance abuse, which is not a primary cause of many criminal behaviours, the there is a huge waste of human resources, financial resources, and physical resources. References Coid, J., Carvell, A., Kittler, Z., et al (1996). Opiates, Criminal Behaviour, and Methadone Treatment. Home Office Study. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hro.pdf Cookson, H.M., (1992), "Alcohol use and offence type in young offenders", British Journal of Criminology, 32. Drug Misuse Declared: Findings From the 2003/04 British Crime Survey, England and Wales. Home Office Statistical Bulletin. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb0405.pdf Elliott, D.S., Huizinga, D. & Ageton, S.S. (1985). Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use London, Sage. Glatt, M.M., (1974), "A guide to addiction and its treatment", Medical and Technical Publishing Co. Ltd. Harrison, L. and Gfroerer, J. (1992), "The Intersection of Drug Use and Criminal Behaviour: Results from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse", Crime & Delinquency, 38, 422-443. Miller, N.S., Belkin, B.M., Gold, M.S. (1990), "Multiple Addictions: Co-Synchronous use of alcohol and drugs", New York State Journal of Medicine, 90. Substance use by young offenders: the impact of the normalisation of drug use in the early years of the 21st century. (2003, February). Home Office Research, Development, and Statistics Directorate, Home Office Research Study 261. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors261.pdf Read More