Transcript Chapter 13 Powerpoint (2) Drugs and Alcohol

Criminal Violence:
Patterns, Causes, and
Prevention
Riedel and Welsh, Ch. 13
“The Role of Drugs and
Alcohol in Violence”
OUTLINE
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PATTERNS AND TRENDS
EXPLANATIONS
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Biological and Psychological
Routine Activities
Cultural Explanations
Structural Explanations
Situational Explanations
INTERVENTIONS
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Criminal Justice Approaches
Public Health Approaches
Patterns and Trends
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Evidence linking alcohol or drug use to
violence is striking:
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Prior alcohol use by the victim, offender, or
both is found in more than half of all violent
events.
About 2/3 of all arrestees test positive for at
least one illegal drug at the time of arrest.
60-80% of all prison inmates have been
involved in drug use and/or drug-related
crimes (CASA).
Patterns and Trends
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Correlations are insufficient, however, to
demonstrate that alcohol or drug use
causes violence.
Example: problem drinkers are more
likely to have previous histories of
violence. But: Are violent people more
likely to drink, or are heavy drinkers more
likely to be violent?
This is a “Chicken-or-the-egg”
question: which comes first?
Patterns and Trends (cont.)
Goldstein: Three Major Types of
Drug-Related Violence
1. Pharmacological Effects:
physiological effects of a drug on the
body. Biological effects influence
violent behavior, but there are many
interactions with other factors.
2. Economically Compulsive: crimes
committed to obtain drugs or money
for purchasing drugs
3. Systemic Violence: violence
associated with the illegal sale and
distribution of drugs
Patterns and Trends (cont.)
Pharmacological Effects: physiological effects
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of a drug on the body
Biological effects influence violent behavior, but
there are many interactions with other factors.
For alcohol -- low, acute doses facilitate
aggression, while high doses lead to lethargy.
For marijuana and opiates -- higher doses
generally decrease aggression, although opiate
withdrawal may increase aggression.
For amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, and PCP,
increased aggression occurs only inconsistently
and occasionally. No direct link between cocaine
use and violence has been found.
Patterns and Trends (cont.)
Economically Compulsive Violence: crimes
committed to obtain drugs or money for purchasing
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drugs
Except during withdrawal, heroin users tend to
avoid violent crimes if nonviolent alternatives (e.g.,
burglary, theft) are available.
Johnson et al. (1985) examined 201 active street
opiate users in Harlem.
During the study period (at least 33 days
each):
•72% committed no robberies
•23% committed occasional but
irregular robberies
•5% were classified as "high-rate"
robbers (committed 45% of all
reported robberies).
Patterns and Trends (cont.)
Systemic Violence: violence associated with the
illegal sale and distribution of drugs
 Includes disputes with rival organizations over
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territory; enforcement of organizational rules;
battles with police; punishment of enemies;
protection of drugs or sellers
Includes transaction-related violence (robberies
of drugs or money from the seller or buyer
during a drug transaction); assaults to collect
debts; and disputes over the quality or quantity
of drugs exchanged between buyer sand seller
It may also include violence involving third
parties: bystanders, or participants in related
illegal markets (firearms, hired enforcement,
prostitution).
Patterns and Trends (cont.)
Q: How often does each of 3 types occur?
 Goldstein classified police records of 414
homicides in NY in 1988.
 He classified 53% of the deaths as drug-related.
 39% were systemic.
 2% were economic.
 8% were pharmacological.
 4% had multiple drug-related causes.
 Judgments about which incidents are “drugrelated”, however, are subjective.
 Research likely understates the role of economics
(e.g., the “drug" motivation for robbery and
burglary is often unknown to police).
Biological and Psychological Explanations
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Alcohol is most consistently linked with
aggressive behavior.
Alcohol has acute (immediate) and chronic (longterm) biological effects on brain functions,
including memory.
Alcohol intoxication leads to impaired cognitive
skills and interpersonal communication, which
increases the risk of violence.
Alcohol intoxication in humans is more likely to
lead to aggression at low doses than high doses.
Men are more likely than women to behave
violently when intoxicated: biological differences
associated with gender (e.g., testosterone) may
play a role.
Biological and Psychological Explanations (cont.)
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Psychological and social factors may
mediate the alcohol-gender relationship.
Example: male drinking patterns are much more
likely to include binge drinking and aggressive
behavior associated with male peer interactions.
Individual learning is also a critical
determinant of whether present drug or alcohol
use leads to violent behavior or not.
Men are much more likely than women to have
had previous aggressive experiences in their
development, facilitating learning of aggression.
Routine Activities Theory
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Locations with large concentrations of alcohol
outlets are often hot spots of crime, attracting
many visitors who engage in a wide variety of
illegal activities.
The spatial distribution of alcohol outlets and the
targeted advertising of alcohol to particular
communities, especially minority communities,
may mediate relationships between alcohol and
violence.
The widespread advertising, sale, and use of
alcohol contributes to the construction of a
symbolic system that builds alcohol consumption
into the life world of its residents.
Cultural Explanations
Drunken Comportment
 There are different cultural norms and
customs regarding use of alcohol and behavior
while intoxicated.
 Different stresses in different cultures influence
the likelihood of violent behavior under
conditions of drunkenness (Fagan, 1990).
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The Yuruna Indians in the South American rain forest
consistently become withdrawn when drunk, acting as
though no one else existed.
In a rural Japanese fishing village, drunkenness
regularly leads to camaraderie, laughter, jokes,
songs, and dances.
Social Structural Explanations
Ousey & Lee (2004)
 Changes in arrest rates for cocaine and opiate distribution
corresponded positively with changes in both black and
white homicide rates over time within cities.
 However, the impact of change in the drug market on
homicide rates was stronger among blacks than whites.
 Harsh structural conditions found in many urban areas may
promote cultural adjustments that contribute to participation
in illegal drug markets and high levels of violence.
 While the root causes of drug abuse and violence are not
completely understood, it is likely that both are intensified if
not directly caused by some of the social conditions found in
U.S. society—racism, poverty, deindustrialization,
unemployment, and dysfunctional families.
Situational Explanations
Erich Goode— situation effects depend upon:
 Set: mental or emotional state of user, personality, and
mood influence drug effects
 Setting: the social and physical environment influence
effects (e.g., who, where)
 The drug: physiological effects of a drug
Fagan’s (1990) situated transaction theory:
 Intoxication has a significant impact on cognitive skills and
abilities, but the nature of this impact varies by:
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the substance
the individual
the social setting
context
One ethnographic study found that a group
of youths was quiet and deferential when
drinking among their elders in a
neighborhood bar, but much more
aggressive in other surroundings after they
left their company.
CJ Interventions: Weed & Seed
Four key components
1. Weeding: concentrated law
enforcement efforts
2. Seeding: human services and
neighborhood revitalization efforts
3. Enhanced Coordination: strategies
to address local problems
4. Community Policing: proactive
police/community problem solving
Dunworth et al. (1999): National Evaluation
• In 9 sites, evaluators compared Part 1 crime trends
for the year prior to implementation and the second
year after Weed & Seed began. Each site had high
rates of violent crime related to drug trafficking/use.
•Results: Five target areas had double-digit
percentage decreases (-10% or greater) in Part 1
crime. One target area had a single-digit decrease
(-6%). Three target areas experienced slight
increases (+2 - +14%) in Part 1 crime.
Problems
1. Difficult to control for many variables that
influence crime rates
2. Crime decreases were not specific to target areas
(surrounding areas also decreased).
3. Differential resources in particular areas
influenced crime reductions.
Philadelphia: Operation Safe Streets
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In response to high rates of drug-related
violence, the Philadelphia Police Department
launched Operation Safe Streets on May 1,
2002.
The program stationed officers at 214 of the
highest drug activity locations in the city 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Police Department identified high-druguse locations using crime data, arrest data,
firearms-seizure data, informant data, and
ongoing investigations, and obtained partial
funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance
for police overtime pay.
Philadelphia: Operation Safe Streets (cont.)
Lawton et al. (2005): Evaluation
 Results: no significant impacts on citywide weekly
counts for drug crimes, homicides, or total violent
crimes
 Geographically focused analyses, however,
showed significant localized intervention effects
for both violent and drug crimes.
 Areas within one tenth of a mile of the target site
experienced significantly lower weekly crime rates.
 There was a partial but not total displacement of
drug-crime activity (drug crimes re-appeared
slightly further from the intervention sites).
Lawton, B.A., Taylor, R.B. and Luongo, A.J. (2005). Police officers on drug corners in
Philadelphia, drug crime, and violent crime: Intended, diffusion, and displacement
impacts. Justice Quarterly, 22, 427-451.
Philadelphia: Operation Safe Streets (cont.)
Conclusions
 Crackdowns such as Operation Safe
Streets respond to current crises.
 They cost a lot.
 They attract attention.
 To at least a limited degree, they get
some results.
 They are rarely sustainable, however,
because of high costs.
Interventions: Prison Drug Treatment
Therapeutic Community (TC) drug treatment
is an intensive, long-term (12 months), highly
structured, residential treatment modality for
hard-core drug users.
TC emphasizes the necessity of the inmate
taking responsibility for his/her behavior before,
during, and after treatment, and inmates play
an important role in structuring group norms
and sanctions.
Positive, consistent effects were found in followup studies in Delaware (5 yr.), California (5 yr.),
Texas (3 yr), and PA (2 yr.).
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Lower rearrest rates, lower reincarceration
rates, lower relapse rates, longer survival rates
Post-release aftercare is important.
Effects of Prison TC Drug Treatment in PA
50%
Recidivism Rate
40%
41%
38%
35%
34%
30%
30%
24%
20%
10%
0%
Reincarceration
Rearrest
Comparison Group
Drug Relapse
TC Group
Welsh, W.N. (in press, 2007). A multi-site evaluation of prison-based TC drug
treatment. Criminal Justice and Behavior.
Interventions: Prison Drug Treatment
Problems
1. Many studies have been vulnerable to
criticisms of inadequate research design,
unknown or compromised program
implementation, and/or inadequate
measures of treatment process and
outcome.
2. Further, “self-selection” is the main
guide inmates use to navigate through
treatment options, which complicates the
clarity of scientific interpretations.
Conclusions
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Because potential causal influences
connecting drug abuse to violence are
complex and diverse, so must be the
potential solutions.
Comprehensive strategies are needed that
target both juveniles and adults, both
demand and supply, and both individuals
and public policy.
Strategies that emphasize punishment and
interdiction alone have not yielded
productive results in the past, nor should
they be expected to do so in the future.