Violent and Criminal Correlates of Drug Abuse

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Violent and Criminal Correlates of Drug Abuse-Summary

The text in this chapter points out that people’s greatest concern about illegal drugs is their association with other forms of criminal behavior. Recently there have been growing allegations concerning the relationship between crime and illicit drug use. The broad theoretical connections between crime and drug use are that drug causes crime, crime causes drug use and subcultural explanations. For a long time, drugs have been linked to crime and violence in the mind of the public. Additionally, politicians have been accused of using vocabularies of fear to advocate for hard-line anti-drug policies and as a result, the country has been living in profound fear. From self-reports, empirical evidence about crime includes ethnographic studies, sequence studies, correctional studies, and longitudinal studies. In summary, this chapter asserts that drug use causes users to commit crimes. Some theorists hold that drugs use causes crime while others assert that crime leads to drug and substance abuse. The text further concludes that both criminal behavior and drug use originate from a common cause. As a whole, empirical literature does not exclusively support both theoretical positions.

Summary of Article Relating to Chapter 11

Violent and Non-violent Criminal Behavior among Young Chinese drug users: A Mixed Methods Study

This article focuses on drug users in relation to the criminal justice system. The study is descriptive and explorative and it aims at analyzing criminal behavior among young Chinese drug users. The study found that older male drug users who were introduced to drugs at a young age and who have religious beliefs are more likely to commit crimes. The study also showed that drug users that committed crimes before being introduced to drugs are more likely to commit violent crimes. Additionally, drug users who are young and going through severe depression are at increased risk of committing violent crimes. Further qualitative analysis revealed that compared to females who tend to turn into drug traffickers and dealers, male drug users are likely to involve themselves in criminal misconduct and are at an increased risk of committing violent crimes (Liu, Chui, & Chen, 2018). The findings in this text are consistent with the text covered in chapter 11. Just like the course readings, the article asserts that criminal behavior and drug use result from the same cause. In my opinion, it is true that drugs cause crime and also that the reverse is true. Without a doubt, drugs tend to bring out violent character in people.

References

Liu, L., Chui, W. H., & Chen, Y. (2018). Violent and non-violent criminal behavior among young Chinese drug users: A mixed methods study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(3), 432.