Chapter 10
Drug Use and Delinquency
Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law, 8/e
by Larry Siegel and Brandon C. Welsh
Slides prepared by
Larry Bassi, SUNY at Brockport
How Bad Is It?
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Self-reported Drug Use Surveys Reveal:
<DIR>
half of all high school seniors have tried drugs
over 90% have used alcohol
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Half of all juveniles arrested test positive for cocaine
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Substances of Use
and Abuse
Substances of Use
and Abuse
Today’s Drugs of Choice
Monitoring The Future (MTF)
Institute for Social Research (ISR)
Are The Surveys
Accurate?
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Home, school-based and self-reported surveys have measurement problems.
The are likely reliable indicators of drug use
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Why do teenagers take
drugs?
Why Do Teenagers Take Drugs
What Adolescents Use Drugs?
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Adolescents who distribute small amounts of drugs
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Generally not involved in other serious delinquency
Dealing helps support personal habit
Deal to friends, relative and acquaintances
Sales occur in private areas
Rarely apprehended or arrested
</DIR></DIR>
What Adolescents Use Drugs?
<DIR>
Kids who frequently sell drugs:
<DIR>
small number
multiple-drug users
adults often front for them
likely to use crack regularly
deals take place in public and known hangouts
may make thousands of dollars per week
</DIR></DIR>
What Adolescents Use Drugs?
<DIR>
Teen deals who commit other delinquent acts:
<DIR>
commit disproportionate amount of crime
few gender or racial differences among the dealers
often hired by older people to act in some capacity
some develop their own "crew"
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Drug-involved Gangs
Characteristics of
Persistence of Use
<DIR>
They come from poor families
They have criminal family members
Do poorly in school
Began career at an
early age
Use multiple types of
drugs
Frequently commit crimes
Have few conventional opportunities
</DIR>
Drug Use and Delinquency
Drug Use and Delinquency Are Both Part of a Disturbed Lifestyle
<DIR>
Alcohol abuse seems to be a cause of marijuana and other drug abuse because
<DIR>
most drug users started with alcohol
youths who abstain from alcohol almost never take drugs
</DIR>
Marijuana use is a cause of multiple-drug use
Youths who commit felonies started off with minor delinquent acts.
</DIR>
Basic Drug Control
Strategies
Law Enforcement and
Deterrence
School Based Programs
Treatment Strategies
Balanced/Restorative Justice Model
Important Questions
<DIR>
Do current "Drug Reduction Strategies" ignore the core reasons for drug use and abuse?
Would legalizing (or decriminalizing) use reduce the problem?
Can law enforcement strategies work?
Is treatment an effective drug control technique?
</DIR>.
