NCJ Number
182155
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 45 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 349-353
Date Published
March 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between substance use, drug selling, and lethal violence in adolescent male homicide offenders and their victims.
Abstract
The study used a retrospective review of criminal justice databases and medical examiner records for murders committed by 25 adolescent males incarcerated in Virginia's juvenile correctional centers from February 1992 to July 1996. The perpetrator sample was 84 percent African-American and 16 percent white. The average age at the time of the offense was 15 years (range equals 13.0 to 17.7 years). The victims were 84 percent male, 60 percent African-American, and 32 percent white. The median victim age was 28.0 years (mean = 34.8, range equals 17 months to 75 years). Fifty-two percent of the murders were committed by juveniles with identified involvement in drug selling, and 28 percent of the murders were drug-related. Toxicology results showed recent drug or alcohol use in 27 percent of the victims, and 74 percent of the perpetrators reported substance use, with 35 percent indicating daily use. Discriminant analysis accurately classified 86 percent of the drug-related murders with the variables of recent victim drug use and perpetrator substance use history. Adolescent males involved in the sale and distribution of illegal drugs comprised a significant percentage of those incarcerated for murder. Recent victim drug use and perpetrator substance use may be important variables in identifying drug-related juvenile homicides. These results underscore the link between substance use, drug selling, and lethal violence. 3 tables and 32 references