Paul J. Goldstein

The Drugs/Violence Nexus: A Tripartite Conceptual Framework

Drug use and drug trafficking are examined as etiological factors in the creation of violence. A conceptual framework is presented for examining the drugs/violence nexus. Drugs and violence are seen as being related in three possible ways: the psychopharmacological, the economically compulsive, and the systemic. Each of these models is examined in depth. The quality of data available in existing national crime data bases to explicate these relationships is assessed.

The Validity of Methadone Clients' Self-Reported Drug Use

Drug use self-reports were compared with urinalysis for 248 clients in four methadone treatment programs. The validity of self-reporting based on urinalysis as a criterion depended on the type of drug examined. Opiate reporting was least valid, while benzodiazepine and cocaine reporting were moderately and highly valid, respectively. EMIT urinalysis was far more useful as a criterion of validity than TLC urinalysis. Self-reports helped identify drug users who were missed by urinalysis because of the latters limited detection period, but urinalysis in turn detected an equal number of drug users missed by the interviews. The age of clients and the type of interviewer directly affected the rate of underreporting. Some respondents systematically denied disvalued behaviors (i.e., drug use and criminality), leading to a spurious correlation between these behaviors. This has important implications for future research.

Drug-Related Homicide in New York: 1984 and 1988

This article reports findings from two studies, Drug Related Crime Analysis 1 (DRCA-H1) and Drug Related Crime Analysis 2 (DRCA-H2). Both addressed the need for routine and systematic collection of data about the drug-relatedness of homicide. DRCA-H1, conducted in New York State in 1984, focused on assessing the usefulness of existing police records for researching this subject. DRCA-H2 involved data collection during ongoing police investigations in New York City between March 1 and October 31, 1988. Both studies were structured and their findings analyzed in terms of a tripartite conceptualization of the drugs/homicide nexus. Comparing the findings of the studies reveals that existing police records are generally inadequate for providing insight into the complexities of the drugs/crime/violence nexus. However, findings from DRCA-H2 show that it is possible for researchers to work effectively with police to collect critically needed information, without causing significant disruption.

Volume of Cocaine Use and Violence: A Comparison between Men and Women:

This paper examines the cocaine-violence relationship among samples of male and female street drug users using volume of cocaine use as the primary independent variable. Data derive from two ethnographic studies undertaken on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Subjects were studied as both perpetrators and victims of violence. The research was guided by a tripartite conceptual model of the general relationship between drugs and violence. A number of significant differences between males and females are identified and discussed. These findings, together with those of a previous analysis of the relationship between frequency of cocaine use and violence, provide evidence of the complexity of the drugs-violence relationship in general, and cocaine-violence relationships specifically.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF DRUGS, DRUG TRAFFICKING, AND DRUG TRAFFICKERS TO HOMICIDE

ABSTRACT While the relationship between drugs and homicide has often been documented, its full extent and complexity are not well known. Using data from a study of 414 homicide events committed in New York City during eight months of 1988, this analysis explores that relationship. In addition, data are analyzed for 266 perpetrators and 236 victims of those cases. By conservative estimate, more than half of the homicide events were found to have been Drug-related. In addition, it was determined that many that were not drug-related either took place at a known drug location, involved perpetrators and/or victims who were known by the police to have been involved with drugs and Drug trafficking or involved perpetrators and/or victims with prior official criminal records for Drug sales or possession. The findings suggest that lethal violence or homicide to a large extent is focused on communities of people directly or indirectly involved with drugs or drug trafficking.

Race/ethnicity and gender differences in the drugs-violence relationship

This article examines the drug relatedness of violent events reported by White, Black, and Hispanic male and female street drug users from New York City. The primary purpose is to determine if the drugs-violence relationship varies for these different populations of drug abusers. Drug relatedness is assessed according to a tripartite conceptual model of the general relationship between drugs and violence. Significant race/ethnicity and gender differences were found in regard to the number of violent events manifesting specific drug-related dimensions of violence, the drugs associated with these violent events, and the primary reasons for the occurrence of these events. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Drug Use by Homicide Offenders

This article uses data derived from interviews with 268 homicide offenders incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities to examine their drug use prior to and at the time of the homicide, and their perceptions as to whether and how the homicides were related to their drug use. Most respondents who used a drug were not hard-core users of that drug. About one in five of the respondents could be considered polydrug abusers. Thirty percent of the sample believed that the homicide was related to their drug use. Alcohol was the drug most likely to be implicated in these homicides. The implications of this research are discussed.

From bag brides to skeezers : a historical perspective on sex-for-drugs behavior

There are many ways that women support their use of crack cocaine, including sex-for-crack bartering and other forms of prostitution. Empirical studies conducted in the mid-1970s and in the mid-1980s in New York City, and in Chicago in the late 1980s to early 1990s are compared, analyzing similarities and differences between the contemporary crack-prostitution scene and previous prostitution scenes. Findings suggest that the arrival of crack cocaine has directly and indirectly affected the drugs-prostitution nexus by lowering the price of sex for street prostitutes, altering the social status of cocaine, and increasing the level of social disorganization in illicit street activities, including prostitution. Barterers are shown to be the heaviest drug users, using the greatest variety of drugs, using larger amounts of drugs, and using more frequently.

Childhood abuse and the use of inhalants: differences by degree of use.

OBJECTIVES Using two existing ethnographic studies of drug-involved adults, this study evaluates the association between child-abuse victimization and levels of involvement in inhalant use. METHODS Historical accounts of childhood exposure to physical or sexual abuse were compared among nonusers of inhalants (n = 197), light inhalant users (n = 64), and heavy inhalant users (n = 24). Crude and adjusted odds ratios were used to compare informants with no history of inhalant use with those having a history of light inhalant use and those having a history of heavy inhalant use. RESULTS Heavy inhalant use was associated with history of any child abuse (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 4.6) and physical abuse (adjusted OR = 3.8). Light inhalant use showed no association with child-abuse history. CONCLUSIONS Child abuse may be an important correlate of extensive involvement in inhalant use. The findings invite speculation with respect to a hypothetical causal role for child abuse in the etiology of inhalant use. The lack of support for causality in this study underscores the need for replication and more carefully designed longitudinal research.

The Role of Marijuana in Homicide

In this paper we examine the relationship between marijuana use and homicide. Data derive from interviews with 268 individuals incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities for homicides that occurred in 1984. We found that in terms of lifetime use, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug in this sample; that about one-third of respondents who had ever used marijuana used the drug in the 24-hour period before the homicide; and that almost three-quarters of those respondents were experiencing some type of effect from the drug when the homicide occurred. A total of 18 respondents (7% of the total sample) said that the homicide was related to their marijuana use. We examine the reasons these respondents gave for this relationship and the other substances they reported using at the time of the homicide. We also demonstrate that from the perspective of a conceptual framework that specifies the ways that drugs and violence may be linked, there are various nuances in the ways that marijuana and homicide are related. We discuss the implications and limitations of using self-report data from perpetrators of violence for our understanding of the drugs-violence connection.