DRUG ABUSE, CRIME, AND THE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY - SOME CONCEPTUAL ISSUES (FROM PSYCHOPATH - A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF ANTISOCIAL DISORDERS AND BEHAVIORS, 1978, BY WILLIAM H REID - SEE NCJ-57510)

• NCJ Number: 57515
• Author(s): L GRINSPOON; J B BAKALAR
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Brunner/Mazel, Inc.
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION AND CAUSALITY SURROUNDING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CRIME, DRUG ABUSE/DEPENDENCE, AND THE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY (SOCIOPATH) ARE DISCUSSED.

Abstract

ONE PROBLEM IS THE CONFUSION OR AMBIGUITY BETWEEN CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS AND LEGAL OR MORAL JUDGMENT THAT PLAGUES THE TERMS 'ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY' AND AND 'DRUG DEPENDENCE' AND COMPLICATES THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO CRIME. TO THE EXTENT THAT THE USE OF THESE TERMS IS DETERMINED BY MORAL REACTIONS AND CRIMINAL LAW AS WELL AS BY CLINICAL JUDGMENT, THE DIAGNOSES TO WHICH THEY REFER ARE AUTOMATICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. THIS MEANS THAT STUDIES FINDING CRIME TO BE CORRELATED WITH SOCIOPATHY AND DRUG ABUSE PROVE LESS THAN THEY SEEM TO PROVE. A RELATED PROBLEM IS THE TENDENCY OF ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY AND DRUG DEPENDENCE DIAGNOSES TO BE INTERDEFINED NOT ONLY WITH CRIMINALITY BUT ALSO WITH EACH OTHER. DRUG ABUSE AND ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY CAN BE DEFINED IN SUCH A WAY THAT MANY OF THEIR CLINICAL OR SOCIAL SYMPTOMS ARE THE SAME. THIS CONFUSION IS LARGELY A CONCEPTUAL PROBLEM, NOT JUST A MATTER OF DEFICIENT DATA OR THE LIMITATIONS AND PREJUDICES OF PSYCHIATRISTS. IMPRECISE DEFINITIONS AND DIAGNOSTIC CONFUSION MAKE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT THE NOTORIOUSLY INTRACTABLE QUESTION OF CAUSALITY. THE TWO MAIN CAUSAL QUESTIONS ARE WHETHER DRUG ABUSE CAN PRODUCE AN ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY, AND (MORE PLAUSIBLY) WHETHER ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES ARE INCLINED TO ABUSE DRUGS. THE ANSWER TO BOTH QUESTIONS DEPEND ON THE DEFINITIONS USED. BUT IT SEEMS REASONABLE TO SAY THAT DRUG PROBLEMS LIE ON THE PERIPHERY, NOT AT THE CENTER, OF THE ANTISOCIAL CHARACTER'S LIFE. THE VAGUENESS OF TERMS LIKE ANTISOCIAL, DYSSOCIAL, DRUG ABUSE, AND DRUG DEPENDENCE MAY BE A WAY OF AVOIDING DECISIONS ABOUT HOW TO DISTRIBUTE JUDGMENTS BETWEEN MORAL CONDEMNATION (OF INDIVIDUALS OR OF SOCIETY) AND PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS. BUT THE VAGUENESS MAY ALSO BE FUNCTIONAL IN THAT IT IS INDICATIVE OF A RELUCTANCE TO RESORT TO INTELLECTUAL ARROGANCE AND MORAL DOGMATISM WHERE HUMAN LIVES ARE AT STAKE. IN SORTING OUT THE CONCEPTS OF CRIMINALITY, SOCIOPATHY, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE, THE SOCIAL AND MEDICAL PURPOSES OF THE CONCEPTS SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)