NCJ Number
42924
Date Published
1975
Length
77 pages
Annotation
WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A TIME-ORDER MODEL OF FACTORS RELATED TO DRUG USE, THREE SOCIAL STRUCTURAL VARIABLES ARE SHOWN TO BE SIGNIFICANT PREDICTORS OF DRUG USE.
Abstract
THIS PAPER IS ONE PART OF A LARGER STUDY OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF ILLICIT DRUG USE. TWO SUB-SAMPLES WERE STUDIED: A QUOTA SAMPLE OF AMERICAN BLACK, BRITISH WEST INDIAN BLACK, WHITE AND PUERTO RICAN ADULTS LIVING IN AN URBAN GHETTO NEIGHBORHOOD, AND A SAMPLE OF MOTHERS AND THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN, DRAWN SO THAT TWO SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND THE FIRST THREE OF THE ABOVE ETHNIC GROUP WOULD BE EQUALLY REPRESENTED. THIS STUDY IS BASED ON DATA DRAWN FROM THE FORMER SAMPLE, AND ALSO HAS STRONG CONCEPTUAL TIES TO A STUDY OF FAMILY/SELF HEROIN USE, AND CONTACT WITH HEROIN USERS, DONE IN THE SAME COMMUNITY IN 1971 AND REPORTED ON BY LUKOFF (1972) AND LUKOFF AND BROOK (1974). THE PRESENT STUDY SHOWED YOUNG PEOPLE USE MORE THAN MIDDLE-AGED PEOPLE, WHO IN TURN USE MORE THAN OLD PEOPLE. SAMPLED WHITES WERE FOUND TO BE MORE LIKELY THAN AMERICAN BLACKS TO BE POLYDRUG USERS, BUT THE TWO GROUPS HAVE ROUGHLY THE SAME RATES OF USE OF MARIJUANA ONLY. BOTH GROUPS USE DRUGS MORE THAN BRITISH WEST INDIANS. THE NATIVE-BORN ARE FOUND TO BE MORE LIKELY THAN MIGRANTS TO BE DRUG USERS. PERCEIVED FRIENDS' DRUG USE IS CONSIDERED A POTENT PREDICTOR OF ONE'S OWN DRUG USE. IN A STEP INTERVENING BETWEEN SOCIAL STATUS AND FRIENDS' DRUG USE, RESPONDENTS' OWN AGE, ETHNIC GROUP, AND GENERATION STATUS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE SIGNIFICANT CORRELATES OF FRIENDS' DRUG USE....RCB