Substance Use and Delinquency Among Youths Entering Texas Youth Commission Facilities, 1994

• NCJ Number: 163337
• Author(s): E V Fredlund; D Farabee; L A Blair; L S Wallisch
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 161 pages
• Contract Number(s): 270-92-0016
• Corporate Author: Texas Cmssn on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Texas Cmssn on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This document contains data on patterns of substance use among high-risk populations and the relationship between substance use, crime, family dysfunction, and mental health.

Abstract

Data in this report were obtained through field interviews with 1,030 youths ages 12-17 who were committed to the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). Findings show that a majority of youths committed to TYC should be classified as substance dependent and in need of treatment. In addition, many had educational deficiencies and had been involved in gangs and selling drugs. Their family lives often included substance abuse and involvement with the criminal justice system as well as other indications of dysfunction. Seventy percent of TYC youths had siblings under the age of 18 living in homes with the same environmental influences; 18 percent of these youths were themselves already parents. These factors suggest that a multigenerational cycle of maladjustment, substance abuse, and criminality exists and will continue unless programs are instituted that address the full range of problems faced by these youths and their families. Figures, tables, appendixes