CALIFORNIA - FIVE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF 1966 JUVENILE BURGLARY-INVOLVED DRUG ARRESTEES

• NCJ Number: 18735
• Author(s): H S PENN
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 15 pages
• Corporate Author: California Dept of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

TO STUDY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DRUG AND NON-DRUG CRIMINALITY, A COMPARISON WAS MADE OF TWO GROUPS OF DRUG OFFENDERS - ONE WITH NO PRIOR RECORD AND ONE WITH A HISTORY OF NON-DRUG CRIMINALITY.

Abstract

THE MATERIAL FOR THIS STUDY WAS DRAWN FROM A LARGER COHORT OF JUVENILE DRUG OFFENDERS WHO WERE ARRESTED IN 1966 ON DRUG CHARGES FOR THE FIRST TIME. FIVE YEAR POSTARREST CRIMINAL RECORDS WERE COMPILED IN ORDER TO FOLLOW THE SEQUENCE OF OFFENSES IN THE CRIMINAL CAREERS. THE FILES OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY WERE SCREENED FOR SUBJECTS ARRESTED FOR BURGLARY DURING THE FIVE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP PERIOD. DATA RELATING TO THESE SUBJECTS CONSTITUTE THE INFORMATION BASE OF THIS STUDY. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE NO PRIOR RECORD GROUP CONTAINED A COMPARATIVELY LARGE PROPORTION OF WHITES; THE PRIOR RECORD GROUP, A RELATIVELY HEAVY REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS. THE NO PRIOR NEGRO SUBJECTS APPEARED TO HAVE FAVORED MARIJUANA, WHILE WHITES, OF THE FOUR ETHNIC GROUPS, SHOWED THE HEAVIEST INCIDENCE OF DANGEROUS DRUG OFFENSES. IN THE PRIOR RECORD SUB-SAMPLE, THESE RELATIONSHIPS WERE, TO A LARGE EXTENT, REVERSED. THE DATA SHOWED THAT MARIJUANA ARRESTEES WERE SEEMINGLY MORE LIKELY TO BE RELEASED OR DISMISSED THAN WERE THOSE ARRESTED ON OTHER DRUG CHARGES. WITH REGARD TO RE-ARRESTS BY OFFENSE, MARIJUANA OFFENSES SHOWED THE HIGHEST EXTINCTION RATE. OPIATE OFFENSES, AS WOULD BE EXPECTED, APPEARED TO BE REPEATED MOST PERSISTENTLY. THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF DRUG RE-ARRESTS DURING THE FIVE YEAR POST-ARREST HISTORY WAS CONSIDERABLY HIGHER IN THE PRIOR RECORD GROUP THAN IN THE NO PRIOR. NON-DRUG RECIDIVISM WAS VERY SIMILAR IN THE TWO SUB-SAMPLES. IT IS THEORIZED THAT DRUG AND NON-DRUG CRIMINALITY DEVELOP INDEPENDENTLY AND THAT DRUG USE IS AN ATTRIBUTE OF CRIME RATHER THAN A CAUSE. IT APPEARS THAT IN THE FORMATIVE STAGES OF THE CRIMINAL CAREER CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS PLAY A LARGE ROLE, WHICH LATER IS SUPERSEDED BY PROPERTY OFFENSES. BURGLARY SEEMS TO BE ONLY ONE ASPECT OF A GENERALIZED DISPLAY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. AS FAR AS COULD BE DETERMINED, THE EVENTUAL LEVEL OF CRIMINALITY WAS MUCH THE SAME FOR ALL TYPES OF ORIGINAL DISPOSITIONS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE PERSONALITY OF THE OFFENDER IS THE DETERMINANT OF OUTCOME, RATHER THAN THE TREATMENT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)