Criminality During the Life Course of Heroin Addiction

• NCJ Number: 102182
• Author(s): J C Ball; D N Nurco
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper prepared for presentation at the 45th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence, Lexinton, Kentucky, June 14, 1983.

Annotation

Interviews with 354 male Baltimore addicts between July 1973 and January 1978 determined their involvement in 5 offense types over time (theft, violent offenses, drug dealing, con games, and 'other'), changes in crime patterns over time, and crime frequency during addiction periods compared with crime frequency during nonaddiction periods.

Abstract

The stratified random sample was selected from a population of 6,149 known opiate users arrested or identified by the police between 1952 and 1976. The sample committed offenses 255 days a year while 'on the street,' and this high rate of criminality continued during their years at risk. Theft was the most common offense, accounting for 38 percent of the total crime days, followed in frequency by drug sales, 'other,' violent offenses, and con games. There was no support for a maturation hypothesis regarding the association between crime and opiate addiction over time. Eighty-eight percent of the crimes committed by the sample were during addiction periods. Their offense frequency decreased during successive nonaddiction periods. 3 tables and 10 references.