Black Women, Heroin and Crime: Some Empirical Notes

Abstract

There has been a paucity of literature on the relationship between women, drugs, and crime, and the lack of research focusing upon black women is even more pronounced. The present study focuses on the self-reported drug use and criminal involvement of 63 black female heroin users in Miami, Florida. The data suggest a wide variety of drug use and criminal involvement. Criminal involvement typically begins significantly prior to expensive drug use, which raises serious questions concerning the causal relationship between drugs and crime. Finally, it was found that only a small percentage of the women relied heavily on a single type of criminal activity for income as defined by a particular activity constituting over 50% of their total offenses.