NCJ Number
215237
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 680-703
Date Published
July 2006
Length
24 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the social context of drug-related crime in Great Britain since the 1980s, this paper discusses the implications for criminological theory of the link between problematic drug use and "social exclusion" (limited or no participation in mainstream living patterns, customs, and activities due to poverty).
Abstract
During the 1980s, Britain's drug problem--until then relatively small and largely confined to London--spread to several towns and cities in the north of England and Scotland, where rapid increases in heroin use occurred. New users lived in cities where heroin was previously unreported, and they were primarily young unemployed people living in the poorest neighborhoods. For the first time in Britain, heroin use was significantly linked to socioeconomic disadvantage. This pattern was not uniform, however, as the extent of the drug problem in such neighborhoods was determined by patterns in heroin supply and distribution. The spread of heroin across Britain was related to the establishment of more effective distribution systems across the country. In discussing the implications of this trend for crime research and criminological theory, the paper focuses on three areas: the theory of action, globalization, and the implications of a historical perspective. Regarding the theory of action, trends in heroin use reflected action to deal with unemployment and the stress of economic deprivation. Regarding globalization, the increase in heroin use coincided with the opening up of new heroin supply routes into Britain. The historical perspective is an essential part of theorizing about links between problematic drug use, crime, and social exclusion, because the links did not emerge in Great Britain until the 1980s, which suggests that they are conditioned by factors related to historical circumstances. 60 references