Using the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program to Further Understand the Relationship Between Drug Use and Gang Membership

• NCJ Number: 209070
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 58-88
• Author(s): Charles M. Katz; Vincent J. Webb; Scott H. Decker
• Date Published: March 2005
• Length: 31 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using data from the Arizona Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, this study examined the relationship between drug use and gang membership.

Abstract

Prior research on the relationship between gangs and drugs has identified gang members as the sellers of drugs, as opposed to gang members as drug users. This study examined the relationship between drug use and gang membership using data from the Arizona Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program. The sample consisted of 939 juvenile arrestees from the ADAM program. The data were used to assess the relations of gang memberships with self-report and hard measures, such as urinalysis of drug use. In addition, the relationship between the level of gang association and both measures of drug use were examined. The results lend support for previous work that found that gang members comprise a relatively large proportion of the offending population. The most important finding of the study is that the level of a youth’s gang involvement has a significant impact on their drug use behavior. Implications from the study for researchers are presented and discussed. References