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FORUM on Corrections Research
Substance Use by Adolescents and Subsequent Adult Criminal Activity
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The relationship between adolescent substance use and adult criminal behaviour has been a continuing
issue for researchers. The central question is whether a teenager's frequent use of drugs or alcohol
affects the extent, type and variety of crimes committed as an adult.
A total of 166 offenders (61.5%) answered that they had used drugs at some point in their lives. Of
these inmates, 28.3% did not use drugs before they were 18, 29.5% used drugs irregularly (i.e., less
than once a week), and a sizeable 42.2% (70 offenders) reported using drugs regularly (i.e., once a
week or more) before the age of 18. Figure 1  Total numbers of convictions were compared between offenders who reported no drug use, those who reported irregular drug use (less than once a week) and those who used drugs regularly (once a week or more) as teenagers. The findings were surprising. All three groups had a similar average number of convictions: 18.4 for those who reported no drug use as teenagers, 17.7 for irregular drug users, and 18.6 for those who regularly used drugs before they were 18. The exact opposite result had been expected - that offenders who frequently took drugs would be involved in a greater number of crimes than those who did not. It seemed that level of drug use before age 18 did not relate to amount of adult criminal activity. In fact, adult offenders who reported no drug use and those who reported regular drug use as teenagers had almost the same average number of convictions. The percentage of offenders who had been convicted of at least one violent crime was compared for each of the three groups (non-users, irregular users and regular users). About 66% of offenders who reported no drug use before age 18 had committed at least one violent offence. This compares with about 83% of irregular users and 72.8% of regular users of drugs. This finding suggests that rate of conviction for violent crime was not strongly associated with level of drug use as a teenager. Levels of substance use were also studied in relation to six, more specific offence categories: violent, robbery, drug, alcohol, property and other nonviolent offences. Figure 2 shows the percentage of offenders who committed crimes within the different offence groupings. Two patterns emerged. Non-users, irregular users and regular drug users had relatively similar conviction rates for violent, drug and alcohol offences. Although the rate of violent convictions was noticeably higher for offenders who irregularly used drugs, subsequent statistical analyses showed that the differences between the groups were not significant. Conviction levels for these types of offences were apparently unrelated to juvenile drug use. Figure 2  A different pattern emerged when the other three offence groupings were examined. There were significantly more convictions for robbery, property and other non-violent offences among inmates who reported either irregular or regular drug use as teenagers (see Figure 2). According to the above findings, offenders who used drugs as teenagers, regardless of the level of use, were convicted at a significantly higher rate for economically oriented crimes as opposed to violent offences. It was also important to understand the variety of crimes committed by the three groups. Offenders who did not use drugs as teenagers had, on average, at least one conviction in 2.7 (45%) of the six offence categories. For the irregular and regular drug users, the averages were significantly higher at 3.7 (61.7%) and 3.6 (60%), respectively, out of the six possible categories. It appears that offenders who used drugs before age 18, regardless of the level of use, were convicted of a greater variety of adult crimes than offenders who did not use drugs at all as teenagers. Alcohol Use
The vast majority of offenders in the sample (84% or 228) indicated that they had used alcohol at
some point in their lives. Of these, 14% reported that they did not drink alcohol before they were
18, while 49.1% consumed alcohol irregularly (i.e., less than once a week) and 36.9% drank regularly
(i.e., once a week or more) as teenagers. Figure 3  The variety of crimes committed by regular alcohol consumers was also found to be significantly greater. Offenders who reported no alcohol use before age 18 had, on average, at least one conviction in 2.4 (40%) of the six offence categories, compared with the irregular drinkers at 2.9 (48.3%). For the regular drinkers, this number was significantly higher at 3.8 (63.3%). This finding was expected since the regular alcohol users had a higher conviction rate for both violent and non-violent crimes. Conclusion
Three noticeable patterns were discovered in the adult criminal activity of offenders who reported
varying levels of drug and alcohol use as teenagers. First, offenders who used drugs before the age
of 18 had higher conviction rates for economically oriented crimes than those who did not use drugs
as teenagers. The full report on "Patterns of Alcohol and Drug Use Among Federal Offenders as Assessed by the Computerized Lifestyle Screening Instrument" is available from the Research and Statistics Branch of the Correctional Service of Canada. |
