title: The role of drugs in crime: insights from a group of incoming prisoners.
abstract: The present study was designed to evaluate whether drug dependence is associated with any specific perception of the role of drugs in crime. In the summers of 1997 and 1998, face-to-face interviews were conducted with members of a group of incoming prisoners at the Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland. Ohio. "Incoming prisoners" denotes persons whose criminal cases had been adjudicated and who were of their way to one of Ohio's prisons. Respondents were asked whether they themselves perceived that drugs had been a factor in the crimes for which they had been arrested. Those respondents classified as dependent on at least one illicit drug tended to answer affirmatively. This sub-group was also more likely than their non-dependent counterparts to admit to using drugs in the two days following the commission of their crimes. Specifically, these respondents viewed the need to obtain drugs for personal use as one of their main motives for participating in crime.
authors.affiliation: University of Akron, Department of Sociology, Ohio 44325-1905, USA. Lo@uakron.edu
authors.forename: Celia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Stephens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*