Chapter 6

DRUGS AND DELINQUENCY

Juvenile Justice: An Introduction, 7th ed.

Chapter 6

What You Need to Know• The Monitoring the Future Project surveys eighth-, tenth-, and

twelfth-grade students every year to measure drug use. The results show very little drug use beyond alcohol and suggest that most use is experimental.

• Trend data for drug use over time show fairly consistent reductions in use.

• The relationship between drug use and delinquency is not entirely clear, with some studies showing that use precedes delinquency and others showing that delinquency precedes drug use. The actual relationship is probably a reciprocal one, with each behavior contributing to the other.

• No one type of drug treatment is effective for every individual or every drug. Treatment needs to vary by the individual circumstances.

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What You Need to Know (continued)• Gauging the effectiveness of drug treatment is very difficult

due to the fact that most clients drop out before completion of treatment. What is clear is that treatment can be effective at reducing the need for and abuse of drugs.

• The “Just Say No” approach to prevention is shortsighted and has failed to show any impact on drug use.

• One positive approach is life skills training, which focuses on developing resistance skills for individuals. Evaluations show that this approach can be effective at curbing drug use.

• The popular D.A.R.E. program has failed to have any impact on drug use or abuse.

• Drug courts represent one of the more recent movements for addressing drug use and crime. These courts couple formal court action and intervention with individualized treatment plans involving the offender and his or her family.

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Introduction• There is ample evidence that many youths are under the influence

of alcohol or other drugs at the time they commit delinquent acts or that they recently used alcohol or other drugs.

• This chapter will examine the various issues involved in the drugs-delinquency connection such as drug use, the evidence on the casual relationship, and ways to combat the problem.

• Before examining these topics it is necessary to define some key terms involved in drug research.

USE - refers to taking a drug non-medically for personal enjoyment.ABUSE - defined as any action that intentionally harms or injures anotherperson. Abuse also encompasses inappropriate use of any substance,especially those that alter consciousness. ADDICTION - refers to the chronic use of the drug that causes an individualto need to continue use of the drug, increase the amount of the drug used, and develop a psychological or physical dependence on the drug.

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Gauging the Extent of Drug Use

• Measuring the extent of drug use is somewhat difficult due to the private nature of the behavior.

• However, drug use by juveniles has been measured on a yearly basis since the 1970’s by the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Project.

• The (MTF) Project gathers information on a wide variety of behaviors including levels and types of drugs as well as the time frames of drug use such as “ever” to “daily use” in the past 30 days.

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Gauging the Extent of Drug Use• Another source of self report data on youthful drug

use is the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (SAMHSA). The (SAMHSA) survey records the lifetime, annual, and past month drug use of 12-17 year olds in the U.S. (2009).

• Findings - The percentages of adolescents reporting frequent drug use are much lower and much less alarming.

– Trend data on monthly drug use suggests similar conclusions. Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana have traditionally dominated the drug use data.

– However, alcohol use has significantly decreased over the past 30 years (from a high of 72% in 1980 to a much lower figure of 41% in 2010).

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– Prevalence - Indicates how many respondents used the drug during the year.

– Incidence - Indicates how many times the drug was used.

Findings- Only 6% claim daily use of marijuana, and about3% claim daily use of alcohol. Overall data suggests that druguse is not the rampant problem portrayed by the media orassumed by the public. However, the (MTF) Project ignoresthe fact that some youths drop out of school; therefore thisdata may underreport the level of drug use in thepopulation. There is concern that marijuana use has beenrising in the last two years.

Gauging the Extent of Drug Use

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A Summary of Youthful Drug Use• The fact that relatively few youths use drugs, particularly on a

regular basis, does not mean that adolescent drug use is not a problem. Also, high levels of drug use by offending youths does not mean that drug use is a rampant problem in society.

• Use becomes a greater issue if it engenders further delinquent behavior. However, the degree to which drug use causes delinquency has been the subject of much debate and will be addressed in future subject material.

• The Monitoring the Future experts conclude that youthful drug use is a complex phenomenon and varies by drug.

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The Drugs-Delinquency ConnectionThe evidence on the drugs-delinquency connection is unclearhowever the relationship between drug use and delinquency cantake a variety of forms. Drug use causes delinquent activity. For example, a youth maycommit a property crime to secure the funds to purchase drugs.Drugs may also cause crime through psychopharmacology processes

and/or through systematic violence which is a possibility in the drug market.

• Psychopharmacology Explanations - suggest that drugs have a direct effect on the user, either psychologically or physiologically, that impel the user to act in a deviant or criminal manner.

• Systematic Violence - refers to violence due to factors such as competition between dealers, retaliation for the sale of bad drugs, the simple need to obtain a drug, or other factors related to the sale and marketing of drugs.

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The Drugs-Delinquency ConnectionDelinquency causes drug use. Research on the temporal order of drug use and delinquency reveals a complex relationship. In a longitudinal study of almost 2,000 high school graduates, Johnston et al. (1978) claim that general delinquency predates most drug use, therefore youthful drug use is simply an extension of other deviant behavior.

Elliot, Huizinga, Menard, and Elliot (1989) note that minor delinquency and tobacco use typically precede the use of alcohol and other drugs. They also describe a general progression from minor delinquency to alcohol use, “Index” offending, marijuana use, and poly-drug use in that order.

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The Drugs-Delinquency Connection

• The fact that no consensus has emerged on the correct casual direction between drug use and delinquency suggests that the more plausible explanation is that a reciprocal or spurious relationship must exist.

– A reciprocal relationship states that criminal activity leads to drug use, and drug use leads to criminal activity.

– A spurious relationship states that other factors cause both drug use and delinquency.

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Interventions• Interventions aimed at drug use and abuse can take a variety of

forms and fall under the general categories of treatment and prevention.

• Research on treatment programs has led the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to list 13 principles of effective treatment (see Box 6.1 in the text).

– Some common intervention programs include; Maintenance and Detoxification Programs, Therapeutic/ Residential Communities Programs, Outpatient Programs, and Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) (see text).

• However, there are several problems with the mentioned treatment approaches: difficulty in motivating addicts and abusers to enter treatment programs, convincing addicts that they have a problem, difficulty in retaining addicts and abusers in treatment programs, keeping addicts and abusers sober after treatment, etc.

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Prevention Approaches• The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) also offers 16

principles of effective drug prevention (see Box 6.2 in the text) which focus on protective factors, risk reduction factors, managing social competence, coupling multiple approaches, recognizing the long term needs of the client and conducting family, peer and community interventions.

• The “Just Say No” Approach - most direct and simplest of prevention programs, this approach assumes that juvenile drug use develops out of peer interaction and that use occurs mainly in group situations. Therefore, youths are encouraged to “Say No” to peer influences that may encourage drug use.

• Knowledge/Education Programs - Provide youths with information regarding the physical and psychological effects of drugs as well as the impact, extent, harm, and legal consequences associated with long term drug use.

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Prevention Approaches• Affective Approaches - Focus on the individual rather than

emphasizing information about different substances and issues related to drug use. Focus on building self esteem, self awareness, and feelings of self worth will allow a youth to make wise choices and resist pressures to use drugs. Such programs include Here’s Looking At You 2000 (HLAY 2000) and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

• Life Skills Training Approaches - Somewhat similar to Affective Approaches in that they provide youths with useful skills to avoid drug use. These skills may range from basic personal and social skills development to specific resistance skills aimed directly at substance abuse issues.

• The D.A.R.E. Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education program) - Incorporates elements of all the previously discussed approaches but is police taught and aimed primarily at youths who are in fifth or sixth grade. The topics covered in this program are discussed in Box 6.3 of text.

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Prevention Summary• The evidence on prevention programs suggests that

drug use can be impacted by certain types of programs. Resistance/Life Skills Training appears to be the most promising at reducing the level of drug use.

• Programs that emphasize self-esteem, self awareness, and interpersonal growth in the absence of other strategies for dealing with life situations, including drugs, fail to exhibit any strong influence on drug use.

• In general, while many prevention programs exist and show promise, most still need to be evaluated with longer follow up periods and better research designs.

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Alternative Responses to Drug Use

• The persistence of drug use in society over time has prompted various alternate responses. Among these responses are increased enforcement of drug laws, the development of comprehensive programs that combine legal responses with treatment, prevention, and controversial responses such as the legalization or decriminalization of drugs.

• Increased Enforcement: This includes a crackdown on drug markets, drug interdiction at borders, civil abatement procedures in court, and mandatory prison terms for drug possession or sale.

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Alternative Responses to Drug Use

• Enforcement Coupled with Treatment - Identifies an individual as both an offender and someone who needs help. Two example:

1. Drug Courts - This approach uses the court’s authority to prompt participation in and successful completion of treatment aimed at reducing drug use and related criminal behavior.

2. Breaking the Cycle Program - This approach is similar to drug courts in that it seeks to identify individuals with substance abuse problems early in their system processing, assesses the appropriate treatment needs of the offender, and establishes an integrated set of interventions for the individual.

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Alternative Responses to Drug Use• Legalization or Decriminalization of Drug Use - This

alternative calls for the legal possession and use of drugs such as heroin and marijuana. Some argue that there is no difference between the responsible use of alcohol and the responsible use of illicit drugs.

– Proponents argue that such action would have several benefits. Such benefits include: drug addicts would be less likely to suffer adverse health consequences from contaminated needles, it would reduce street crime because addicts would be less likely to steal to obtain funds for drugs, it would reduce the possibility of society alienating adolescent drug users, and legalization would reduce our law enforcement efforts towards the “war on drugs” and therefore focus on victim related crimes such as murder, robbery, assault, etc.