NCJ Number
155739
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1995) Pages: 378-381
Date Published
1995
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether the traditional view that drug abuse leads to future criminal behavior holds true for those who experienced drug-related deaths examined in 1992 at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna, Austria.
Abstract
The study analyzed postmortem reports and criminal registers of 117 persons whose deaths were drug-related. A total of 43 percent of the examined sample had no criminal register. Regarding age at time of death, there was no difference between those with or without a criminal register. A total of 57 percent had at least one conviction. A minority committed approximately one-third of offenses. Property offenses were the most frequent type. Those who started their criminal history with a property offense were younger at the time of their first conviction and committed more offenses during their life. The study concludes that the traditional view that drug abuse leads to future criminal behavior does not apparently hold true in the cases of the drug-related deaths examined in 1992 at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna, Austria. The results of this retrospective study support the view that drug abuse may be a part of contemporary delinquent behavior, rather than the cause of criminality. 3 tables and 20 references