The Connections Between Substance Dependence, Offense Type, and Offense Severity

Abstract

The link between drug use and crime has been broadly described, but little detail is known about the contributions of alcohol and drug dependence to different types of offending. Data were drawn from the 2010 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring II (ADAM II) program to examine the relationships between dependence, offense type, and severity among recent male arrestees ( N = 3,006). A substantial proportion (ranging from 15% to 39%) of arrestees across all offense types and severity levels endorsed drug-dependent items. Smaller proportions (between 5% and 16%) of arrestees endorsed alcohol-dependent items. Drug dependence was associated with higher odds of receiving felony charges and higher probability of being charged with a substance-related offense. Alcohol dependence was associated with lower odds of felony charges, but greater probability of being charged with a violent offense. Assessment and treatment provisions need to be systematically implemented to reduce these types of offenses.

Individuals with Mild Intellectual Disability or Borderline Intellectual Functioning in a Forensic Addiction Treatment Center: Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics

“…It is generally acknowledged that substance use and offending behavior are closely intertwined (Kopak et al 2014;Vaughn et al 2016). An estimated 50 to 66% of offenders meet DSM-IV criteria (American Psychiatric Association 2000) for substance abuse or dependence, whereas only 9% of the general population meet these criteria (Mumola and Karberg 2006).…”

“…The association between substance use and offending behavior can be explained by several reasons including that substance use may exacerbate psychological symptoms (Swanson et al 2008), thereby increasing the likelihood of offending behavior (Giancola 2004). Furthermore, offenders were arrested for drug trafficking and/or committed their offense to support their substance use (Kopak et al 2014). As a result, addiction treatment centers and criminal justice systems often deal with the same individuals and higher percentages of substance abuse and dependency are found in forensic samples (Chandler et al 2009;Lindsay et al 2013).…”

Drugged and Dangerous

“…Among those whose offense type was nonviolent, 54% were nondependent, 11% were alcohol dependent, 22% were drug dependent, and 14% were polysubstance dependent. Among those whose offense type was substance-related, 46% were nondependent, 10% were alcohol dependent, 30% were drug dependent, and 14% were polysubstance dependent (Kopak, Vartanian, Hoffmann, & Hunt, 2014). 4.…”

Breaking the addictive cycle of the system: improving US criminal justice practices to address substance use disorders

“…Recent research has highlighted this relationship with the finding that arrestees who endorsed indicators of alcohol use disorders were most likely to be charged with lower level (i.e. misdemeanor) violent offenses, such as disorderly conduct or assault, while those who met criteria indicative of drug use disorders were significantly more likely than those that did not present these symptoms to be charged with felony-level drug offenses (Kopak et al, 2014b;Sevigny and Coontz, 2008). This means that arrestees with alcohol use disorders were likely to be involved in crimes which are addressed with much more lenient sanctions, while those with drug use disorders are most likely to be charged with felony offenses that resulted in lengthier prison sentences.…”

“…drug possession or possession of drug paraphernalia) or alcohol-related (e.g. disorderly conduct or assault) and research has shown that many arrestees who experience substance use disorders are charged with these types of offenses (Kopak and Hoffmann, 2014;Kopak et al, 2014b).…”