Chapter 10 Minds and Crime: Alcohol, Drugs

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Chapter 10 Minds and Crime Alcohol, Drugs
Mental Illness
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Chapter Summary

• Chapter Ten is an overview of altered minds and
  crime. The Chapter begins with an overview of the
  relationship between alcohol, alcoholism, and
  crime.
• The Chapter continues with an overview of the
  types of illicit drugs, and the relationship
  between illicit drugs and crime.
• The Chapter concludes with an overview of
  schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and how
  mental illness is associated with criminality.

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Chapter Summary

• After reading this chapter, students should be
  able to
• Understand the relationship between alcohol and
  crime
• Discuss the drug classification and the
  relationship between drugs and crime
• Describe the main mental disorders associated
  with crime
• Understand the relationship between mental
  illness and crime

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The Scope of the Alcohol/Crime Problem

• Of all the substances used to alter mood and
  consciousness, alcohol is the one most directly
  linked to crime, especially violent crime.
• One third of all arrests in the United States are
  for alcohol-related offenses.

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The Direct Effects of Alcohol on Behavior

• The effects of alcohol on behavior is a function
  of the interactions of the pharmacological
  properties of the substance, the individuals
  physiology and personality, and the social and
  cultural context in which the substance is
  ingested.
• Alcohol raises dopamine levels, decreases
  serotonin, and increases GABA, a major inhibitor
  of internal stimuli such as fear, anxiety, and
  stress.

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Contextual Factors

• Alcohol is a releaser of behaviors that we
  normally want to keep under control.
• In some social contexts, drinking may lead to
  violence, but not others.
• Experimental research has shown that drinking
  increases males fantasies of power and
  domination.

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Contextual Factors

• Two of the major cultural factors influencing the
  relationship between alcohol consumption and
  criminal behavior are defining a drinking
  occasion as a time out period in which control
  are loosened from usual behavior and a
  willingness to hold a person less responsible for
  their actions when drinking than when sober by
  attributing the blame to alcohol.

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Contextual Factors

• Binge drinkers Consume anywhere between 5 and 10
  drinks in a few hours time and are particularly
  likely to define drinking as a time out period.
• Heavy alcohol intake has a substantial
  disinhibiting effect on behavior so
  alcohol-induced disinhibition may be considered a
  cause of anti-social acts.

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Contextual Factors

• The substance and the setting are secondary in
  causal importance to traits of individuals
  drinking the beverage of their choice in the
  settings of their choice.

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Alcoholism Type I and Type II

• Alcoholism A chronic disease condition marked by
  progressive incapacity to control alcohol
  consumption despite psychological, spiritual,
  social, or physiological disruptions.
• Most alcoholics do not get into serious trouble
  with the law.
• Type I alcoholism Characterized by a mild abuse,
  minimal criminality, and passive-dependent
  personality.

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Alcoholism Type I and Type II

• Type II alcoholism Characterized by early onset,
  violence, and criminality, and is largely limited
  to males.
• Heritability estimates for Type II alcoholism are
  about 0.90 and about 0.40 for Type I alcoholism
  indicating that environmental factors are much
  more important to understanding Type I alcoholism
  than Type II alcoholism.

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The Extent of the Illicit Drug Problem

• The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 was the
  benchmark act for changing Americas concept of
  drugs and their use.
• The Harrison Act reduced the number of addicts,
  but it also spawned criminal black market
  operations and ultimately many more addicts.
• As with delinquency and crime, drug use rises to
  a peak in the age 18-20 category and then drops
  precipitously.

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Drug Addiction

• Drug addiction Compulsive drug-seeking behavior
  where acquiring and using a drug becomes the most
  important activity in the users life.
• Physical dependence Changes to the body that
  have occurred after repeated use of it and
  necessitates its continued administration to
  avoid withdrawal symptoms.
• Psychological dependence The deep craving for
  the drug and the feeling that one cannot function
  without it.

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Figure 10.2 Illicit Drug Use in Past Month by
Age 2004
Source Department of Health and Human Services,
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2005.
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Table 10.1 Illicit Drug Use in Lifetime, Past
Year, and Past Month Among Persons Age 12 or
Older Percentages, 2003 and 2004
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Drug Classification

• Schedule I substancesthose that have high abuse
  liability and no medical use in the United
  States.
• Schedule II substancesequally high abuse
  liability, but have some approved medical usage.
• Schedule III and Schedule IV substancesmoderate
  to moderately high abuse liability and are
  legally available with prescription.
• Schedule V substancescan be purchased without
  prescription.

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The Drugs/Violence Link

• Narcotics drugs are those that reduce the sense
  of pain, tension, and anxiety and produce a
  drowsy sense of euphoria (e.g. heroin).
• The stimulants have effects opposite to those of
  narcotics (e.g. cocaine, crack, methamphetamine).
• Hallucinogenic drugs are mind altering drugs
  (e.g. LSD and Peyote).
• Synthetic look-alike, or designer drugs fall into
  the general family of psychoactive substances.

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Figure 10.3 Global Cocaine and Heroin
Trafficking Routes Countries of Origin and
Major Countries of Destination.
Source The National Drug Control Strategy 2000
Annual Report. Washington, DC U.S. Government
Printing Office.
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Figure 10.3 Global Cocaine and Heroin
Trafficking Routes Countries of Origin and
Major Countries of Destination.
Source The National Drug Control Strategy 2000
Annual Report. Washington, DC U.S. Government
Printing Office.
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Figure 10.4 Illegal Drug Marketing from Grower
to Market
Grower Processor Transporter Wholesaler Retailer
Farmers plant and harvest poppy, coca, and marijuana crops Use of chemicals such as motor oil, sulfuric acid, kerosene, and insecticides to refine product Smugglers use planes, boats, trucks, and many other methods to get product to wholesaler Organized criminal groups cut product and distribute it to dealers Deals directly with consumer in crack houses or on street
Grower ? Processor ? Transporter ?
Wholesaler ? Retailer
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What Causes Drug Abuse?

• Paul Goldsteins tripartite framework Illegal
  drugs are associated with violence in three ways
• Pharmacological
• Economic-compulsive
• Systemic violence Violence associated with
  traditionally aggressive patterns of interaction
  within the system of drug distribution and use.

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What Causes Drug Abuse?

• Economic-compulsive violence Violence associated
  with efforts to obtain money to finance the high
  cost of illicit drugs.
• Pharmacological violence Violence induced by the
  pharmacological properties of the drug itself.

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What Causes Drug Abuse?

• Gottfredson and Hirschi Crime and drug usage are
  the same thingthat is the manifestation of low
  self-control.
• Anomie theory Drug abuse is a retreatist
  adaptation, and drug dealing is an innovative
  adaptation.
• Social control theory Drug abusers lack
  attachment to pro-social others and lack a state
  in conformity.

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What Causes Drug Abuse?

• Social-learning and subculture theories Drug
  abuse reflects differential exposure to
  individuals and groups.
• Conflict theory As the rich get richer, the poor
  poorer and economic opportunities are shrinking
  for the uneducated and the unskilled, drug
  dealers have taken firm root among the
  increasingly demoralized, disorganized, and
  politically powerless underclass.

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Does Drug Abuse Cause Crime?

• Illicit drug abuse is associated with criminal
  behavior.
• A large body of research indicates that drug
  abuse does not appear to initiate a criminal
  career, although it does increase the extent and
  seriousness of one.

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Table 10.2 Male and Female Adult Arrestees
Testing Positive for Various Drugs (in
Percentages) MALES
City Any of Five Drugsa Multiple Drugs Cocaine Heroin Methamphetamine Marijuana
Atlanta 72.4 73.5 49.8 3.0 2.0 41.8
Chicago 86.0 86.0 50.6 24.9 1.4 53.2
Dallas 62.3 63.8 32.5 6.9 5.8 39.1
Houston 61.7 61.9 22.6 5.7 2.1 47.5
Los Angeles 68.6 68.9 23.5 2.0 28.7 47.5
New York 67.7 72.7 35.7 15.0 0.0 43.1
Philadelphia 67.0 68.8 30.3 11.5 0.6 45.8
Phoenix 74.1 76.8 23.4 4.4 38.3 45.8
San Diego 66.8 71.2 10.3 5.1 36.2 41.6
Washington 65.6 65.8 26.5 9.8 0.7 37.4








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FEMALES
City Any of Five Drugs a Multiple Drugs c Cocaine Heroin Methamphetamine Marijuana
Albany, NY 60.9 65.2 34.8 4.3 0.0 34.8
Chicago 61.1 66.7 33.3 22.2 0.0 38.9
Denver 69.1 24.9 52.5 6.1 5.0 34.3
Honolulu 74.5 27.7 8.5 6.4 57.4 29.8
Los Angeles 59.3 63.0 25.9 2.1 18.5 36.7
New York 67.7 72.7 35.7 15.0 0.0 43.1
New Orleans 58.8 17.8 37.3 13.3 0.8 30.3
Phoenix 74.6 78.5 16.8 6.1 41.6 31.6
San Diego 69.1 72.6 15.2 8.7 47.1 29.1
Washington 61.1 66.7 30.9 10.3 0.0 29.1








Source Adapted from the Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring Program. a. The five drugs are
cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, and
phencyclidine (PCP). b. Atlanta, Dallas, Houston,
and Philadelphia did not sample female arrestees
Albany, Denver, Honolulu, and New Orleans were
substituted. c. Multiple drugs are any of nine
drugs that include the basic five plus
barbiturates, methadone, benzodiazepines, and
propoxyphene.
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Mental Disorders and Crime

• Mental disorders Clinically significant
  conditions characterized by alterations in
  thinking, mood, or behavior associated with
  personal distress and/or impaired functioning.
• Schizophrenia The most widespread of the
  psychotic disorders.
• Schizophrenia comes in a variety of subtypes.
• Catatonic Rigid and unresponsive
• Paranoid Hostile and distrusting

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Mental Disorders and Crime

• Heberphrenic Frenetic and wild
• Reactive Usually marked by the onset of an
  acutely stressful experience.
• Bipolar disorder A disorder in which individuals
  alternate between the poles of extreme elation or
  euphoria and deep depression.
• The prevalence of bipolar disorder in the
  general population is about 1.6.

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Causality The Diathesis/Stress Model

• The genetic basis of schizophrenia and bipolar
  disorder is well-established although how strong
  the genetic effect is relative to non-genetic
  effects remains an open question.
• Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are
  primarily disorders of brain chemistry.

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Causality The Diathesis/Stress Model

• Diathesis/stress model A biosocial model that
  maintains that although mental illnesses reflect
  an underlying genetic vulnerability, they are
  often the products of multiple other factors
  interacting with this vulnerability.
• People with mental disorders are
  disproportionately from the lower socioeconomic
  classes of society and from urban as opposed to
  rural areas.

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The Link Between Mental Illness and Crime

• The majority of the mentally ill are nonviolent,
  and because of their vulnerability, they are more
  likely to be victims of violence than
  perpetrators.
• The mentally ill most at risk for committing
  violent acts are the homeless, those who use
  alcohol and other drugs, and those who do not
  take their antipsychotic medications.

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The Link Between Mental Illness and Crime

• Although the mentally disordered are at greater
  risk for committing crimes, especially violent
  crimes, than the average person, they are few in
  number, and thus their crimes constitute only a
  very small proportion of all crimes committed.