A case-linkage study of the relationship between drug misuse, crime, and psychosocial problems in a total criminal justice population

Abstract

This study was designed to inform the development of new Criminal Justice Intervention Programmes for drug-using offenders by examining the complex inter-relationships of drug problems, drug crime and generic crime together with psychological and social problems. The study combined total population datasets for police and probation agencies with all drug agencies in one geographical area. It first examined associations between greater frequency of crime, drug crime and drug problems. It then examined associations between each of these factors and a range of psychological and social problems. There is a relationship between drug crime and drug problems and both are associated with increased frequency of crime. However, drugs and crime variables are mediated by a range of other social and psychological factors, which strongly influence the probability of drug problems and crime, indicating a need for caution in identifying simple cause-and-effect relationships between crime and drugs.