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Drug misuse and acquisitive crime among clients recruited to the National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS)
Author(s) -
Stewart Duncan,
Gossop Michael,
Marsden John,
Rolfe Alexandra
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
criminal behaviour and mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1471-2857
pISSN - 0957-9664
DOI - 10.1002/cbm.339
Subject(s) - commit , heroin , psychiatry , drug , psychology , cohort , substance abuse , criminal behavior , drug treatment , medicine , criminology , database , computer science
Background Criminal activity among drug‐misusing populations can result in considerable costs. This paper examines the relationship between acquisitive criminal behaviour and drug use among a cohort of 1075 clients recruited to the National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS). Method Clients were recruited from 54 drug misuse treatment programmes in England. A structured interview was administered by clinical staff. The majority of clients were opiate‐dependent poly‐drug users. Results 27 000 acquisitive criminal offences were reported by the cohort in the three months prior to starting treatment, of which shoplifting was the most common offence. There was marked variation in the amount of acquisitive crime reported; just 10% of the sample were responsible for three‐quarters of the crimes committed. Two other groups were identified: low‐rate offenders, and those who did not commit an acquisitive crime. Multivariate analyses revealed that frequency of illicit drug use was associated with increased levels of criminal behaviour. Compared with the no‐crime group, the high‐rate offenders were 11 times more likely to be regular users of heroin, and three times more likely to have used cocaine regularly. Discussion These findings suggest that the most dependent and problematic drug misusers present treatment services with the greatest challenge in terms of reducing levels of criminality. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.