NCJ Number
91818
Date Published
1982
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This report briefly describes the Hong Kong compulsory drug treatment program to which drug-addicted offenders are sentenced. It then provides results of the annual research conducted to assess the characteristics of program participants.
Abstract
The research collects detailed information on six characteristics of the drug dependents: personal attributes and attainment, family particulars, environmental factors, the addiction process, treatment experience, and criminal history. In 1982, a total of 1,743 male and 40 female drug dependents were admitted to the treatment center and included in the study. Of these, 220 were under 21, while in 1981 there had been only 116 and in 1980 only 52. The profile emerging from the study describes the 1982 male drug dependent as born in Hong Kong and in his mid-thirties when admitted to the treatment center. He had some schooling at upper primary level, had been employed as a manual laborer, was single and lived with his parents in a public housing unit. The female dependent was also 30 and born in Hong Kong, but entirely without formal education beyond the primary level. She lived with a spouse, earned a living by unskilled labor or as a dance-hostess, prostitute or waitress. Charts and tabular data are provided.