What factors predict the self-identification of drug dependency among criminal justice populations? Prevalence, correlates, and implications for the criminal justice system

Abstract

The drug-crime nexus has long received international interest from both drug-crime scholars and public policy experts worldwide. While there is little disagreement that more frequent drug use is linked to higher rates of crime the causal underpinnings of this relationship remain hotly contested. One area of increasing interest among criminological, social, and psychological scholars alike is the confounding influence and power of 'identity' in shaping the long-term behavioural trajectories of both drug use and crime. In this study, we explore the prevalence with which recent drug using police detainees self-identify as drug dependent and, using logistic regression, we model self-identification as a function of one's demographic, and drug use profile. We find that, after controlling for type, frequency, and longevity of drug use, being female and younger is associated with an increased odds of self-identifying as drug dependent. Further, we find that despite using drugs at the same frequency and for the same length of time, heroin and other opiate users are the most likely to self-identify. To end, the potential implications of these results are discussed, and future research avenues are explored.

When two measures of drug dependency do not accord: prevalence, correlates, and implications for treatment in the criminal justice context

“…In a study of a more than 14,000 recent drug-using police detainees in Australia it was shown that 53 percent self-identified as drug dependent (Langfield and Payne, 2020). In that paper, the authors noted several problems with the criminal justice system's reliance on self-attribution as a gateway to treatment.…”