NCJ Number
173404
Journal
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Volume: 7 (1997) Issue: Dated: Pages: 213-228
Date Published
1997
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Because it is clear family, peer, and individual risk factors that appear early in life contribute to increased susceptibility to opiate addiction, this study aimed to determine the relationship between risk factors, the development of opiate addiction, and the development of psychological maladjustment in opiate addicts.
Abstract
The study sample included 252 subjects who were selected from the Baltimore, Maryland, area and who were between 12 and 39 years of age at the onset of opiate addiction. The study sample also included 342 controls from the same neighborhood who were matched for age, race, and place of residence but who were free of opiate addiction. Ten risk factors in the five domains of family disruption, peer deviance, personal deviance, psychological symptoms, and lack of protective factors were studied. It was found addicts and non-addicts had different risk profiles comparing black and white people, while a significant differentiation was found for each race. White addicts scored significantly higher than black addicts on all risk factors, whereas black addicts scored significantly higher than white addicts on risk factors denoting peer school misbehavior and fighting, personal drug abuse, and behavioral deviance. The study has implications for the course and treatment of drug addiction, and findings suggest drug addiction is both a causal agent and a concomitant feature of a variety of problems. 37 references, 5 notes, 1 table, and 4 figures