Transcript Drug and Crime

Prof. M. H-Evans
Reims University
A very short summary
5 minutes to summarise
I shall mostly draw upon:
Bennett T., Holloway K., Farrington D. (2008), ‘The statistical association
between drug misuse and crime: A meta-analysis’, Aggression and Violent
Behavior, n° 13: 107-118 (for drugs)
And
Lipsey, M.W., D.B. Wilson, M.A. Cohen & J.H. Derzon (1997). “Is There a
Causal Relationship Between Alcohol Use and Violence? A Synthesis of
Evidence.” In M. Galanter (ed.), Recent Developments in Alcoholism, Vol.
13: Alcoholism and Violence. New York: Plenum Press. (for alcohol)
But also a few others
3 different theories
1.
2.
3.
‘Enslavement theory’ or ‘economic necessity’ theory:
people need a lot of money to buy drugs as they are expensive.
Not always the case though (alcohol; market flooding; even
heroine these days…)
‘Common causes theory’: offenders and addicts have similar
issues; so offending and addiction are caused by similar issues
(in particular low self-control, personality disorders, antisocial
cognitions, thoughts, attitudes and/or peers, genes…). Not
always the case
Co-existing problems. People who abuse substances and
people who offend both have problematic behaviour issues and
are both part of a generally deviant lifestyle/subculture. Not
always the case – does not explain alcohol
=> A combination of these? ‘les trois mon général?’
Different interactions
 Offence committed in order to purchase the substance;
 Offence triggered or supported by an impaired judgment (while
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intoxicated) ;
Offence triggered or supported by impaired skills (e.g. drink
driving);
Offence triggered or supported by impaired inhibition (while
intoxicated);
Offence triggered or supported by substance induced callousness
(either whilst intoxicated or during withdrawal);
In fewer cases: intoxication in order to commit the crime
 => sometimes a combination of (part of) the above
Drugs
Bennett et al., 2008
Odds of offending are betwen 2.8 and 3.8 times greater
for drug users than for non drug-users :
 Crack-cocaine: 6 times higher;
 Heroine users: 3 times higher;
 Cocaine users: 2.5 times higher;
 Amphetamine users: 1.9 higher;
 Cannabis users: 1.5 higher.
Pb: it does not account for differential treatment of different
drugs…
Drugs
Another pb is: studies included in the meta-analysis do not
focus on the same offences. Some on property offences;
others on violent offences. Stronger association is found with
violence (Bennet et al.).
For instance, regarding violence against women (a.k.a.
domestic violence – DV) another meta-analytic review of 96
studies (Moore et al., 2008) found that ‘increases in drug use
and drug-related problems were significantly associated with
increases’ in DV (psychological abuse, violence, sex abuse) in
aggression’. The strongest association was found with
cocaine.
Alcohol
Lipsey et alii have focused mainly on the alcohol and violence link
They did find a strong correlation between alcohol and crime.
Reminder: correlation does not mean that alcohol causes offending.
To sum up we’re not sure that alcohol causes violence; we only think it possibly
(partly) does… (also see Ito, Miller & Pollock, 1996). Another simple rule is : it is
not the principal factor.
That being said alcohol is present in many cases and the person has committed
the offence under the influence. And this is particularly true with alcohol.
For instance Khun et alii (2013) have conducted a meta-analysis of 23 studies
totalling 28,265 homicides and found that the offender was under the influence in
37% of cases.
Alcohol
A meta-analysis of 85 studies (Stith et al, 2004) found that
five risk factors were strongly associated with DV, including,
illicit drug use. Conversely only a moderate effect was found
for 6 other factors, including alcohol use.
But when one studies men entering treatment for alcohol
use, one finds that about 50% of these men report having
perpetrated VAW (which is about 5 times more than the
general population) (Chermack et al., 1995)
And many alcohol abusing perpretators are fully able of
committing VAW whilst not intoxicated
=> a complex relationship to say the least! (Gondolf, 1999)
What does it mean in
terms of treatment
Do not hope that just by adding a treatment obligation when the
person abuses drugs or alcohol, you’ll sort the problem out.
But you do need to add a treatment obligation.
You do need to make sure substance abuse is
dealt with.
However, it is not - & by far - enough. You also need to
deal with other criminogenic needs (e.g. antisocial beliefs,
cognitions and attitudes, and peers; in many cases antisocial
personality; employment and attitude towards employment, family
circumstances, etc.).
Also, in many cases substance abuse hides (the person selfmedicates) a mental health issue (bipolar psychosis, borderline
personality, trauma…) which needs to be addressed…
Conclusion
Yes there is a link between drug and crime
A stronger link with
 - heroine
 - crack cocaine
 - cocaine
 - alcohol
 A lesser link with
 Cannabis
Références
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Bennett T., Holloway K., Farrington D. (2008), ‘The statistical association between drug misuse and
crime: A meta-analysis’, Aggression and Violent Behavior, n° 13: 107-118
Chermack, S. T., Fuller, B. E., & Blow, F. C. (2000). ‘Predictors of expressed partner and non-partner
violence among patients in substance abuse treatment’, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, n° 58,:43−54.
Gondolf, E. (1999), ‘Characteristics of court-mandated batterers in four cities: Diversity and
dichotomies’, Violence Against Women, n° 5: 1277−1293
Ito T.A., Miller N. & Pollock V.E. (1996). “Alcohol and Aggression: A Meta-Analysis on the Moderating
Effects of Inhibitory Cues, Triggering Events, and Self-Focused Attention.” Psychological Bulletin, n°
120: 60–82.
Khun J.B., Clodfelter T.A. & Bottia M.C. (2013), ‘The Prevalence of Alcohol-Involved Homicide
offending: A Meta-Analycit Review’, Homicide Studies, Online DOI: 10.1177/1088767913493629
Lipsey M.W., Wilson D.B., Cohen M.A. & Derzon J.H. (1997). “Is There a Causal Relationship Between
Alcohol Use and Violence? A Synthesis of Evidence.” In M. Galanter (ed.), Recent Developments in
Alcoholism, Vol. 13: Alcoholism and Violence. New York: Plenum Press.
Moore T.M., Stuart G.L., Meehan J.C., Rhatigan D.L., Hellmuth J.C. & Keen S.M. (2008), ‘Drug abuse
and aggression between intimate partner s. A meta-analytic review’, Clinical Psychlogy Review, n° 28:
247-274
Stith, S. M., Smith, D. B., Penn, C. E., Ward, D. B., & Tritt, D. (2004), ‘Intimate partner physical abuse
perpetration and victimization risk factors: A meta-analytic review’, Aggression and Violent Behavior,
n° 10: 65−98.
West R. & Brown J. (2013), Theory of Addictions. Wiley
Merci! Thank you!
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