Heroin Misuse and Delinquency in a New Town

Abstract

SummaryThe subjects of this study were eighty misusers of heroin who lived in the New Town of Crawley, West Sussex. The relationship between their criminal histories and their histories of drug misuse were examined. It was found that more of the heroin misusers than would be expected had been convicted of criminal offences before they began to misuse drugs, while the reduction or cessation of heroin use during a four-year follow-up period was accompanied by a reduction in convictions. Some social characteristics of the male heroin misusers were compared with those of two other Crawley groups—a group of juvenile offenders who did not misuse heroin and their control group of non-delinquents. Characteristics commonly associated with maladjustment did not distinguish the heroin misusers from the juvenile offenders, nor were they found to be associated with the continued use of heroin. Analysis of the data in epidemiological terms suggested that among the necessary conditions for an outbreak of drug misuse in a particular community the availability of drugs together with socializing drug users were more important than the presence of predisposed individuals.