Criminality and Sexual Behaviours in Substance Dependents Seeking Treatment

The aim of this study was to investigate the link between violence, crime, and sexual behavior among patients with substance-related disorder admitted to a specialized inpatient care unit. 

This was a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, drug of choice (DOC), questions about sexual behavior, and instruments to evaluate the severity of dependence (SADD, DAST, FTND), level of impulsivity (BIS-11), and a screening sex addiction scale. 

The sample consisted of 587 adult subjects, of which 

• 82.3% were men, 
• 66.4% had used cocaine (sniffed and smoked) as their DOC, 
• 24.4% had a history with the criminal justice system, 
• 26.8% had committed crimes, 
• 19.3% had engaged in violent behavior, and 
• 12.2% had been involved in drug trafficking. 

In this sample, crime was strongly associated with various sexual behaviors and the severity of substance dependence

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By:  Diehl A¹, Pillon SC², Dos Santos MA³, Rassool GH⁴, Laranjeira R⁵.

¹a National Institute of Alcohol and Drugs Policy (INPAD), Psychiatrist, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) , Psychiatric Department , São Paulo , Brazil.

²b Professor, University of São Paulo (USP) , Psychiatric Nursing and Human Science Department, Faculty of Nursing at Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil; PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development , Ribeirão Preto , Brazil.

³c Associate Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto , University of São Paulo, São Paulo , Brazil.

⁴d Professor and Executive Director, Sakina Counselling Institute , Port Louis , Republic of Mauritius.

⁵e Psychiatrist, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) , Psychiatric Department , São Paulo , Brazil.

J Psychoactive Drugs. 2016 Apr-Jun;48(2):124-134.

  

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Legal space for syringe exchange programs in hot spots of injection drug use-related crime

BACKGROUND:

Copious evidence indicates that syringe exchange programs (SEPs) are effective structural interventions for HIV prevention among persons who inject drugs (PWID). The efficacy of SEPs in supporting the public health needs of PWID populations is partially dependent on their accessibility and consistent utilization among injectors. Research has shown that SEP access is an important predictor of PWID retention at SEPs, yet policies exist that may limit the geographic areas where SEP operations may legally occur. Since 2000 in the District of Columbia (DC), SEP operations have been subject to the 1000 Foot Rule (§48-1121), a policy that prohibits the distribution of "any needle or syringe for the hypodermicinjection of any illegal drug in any area of the District of Columbia which is within 1000 feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school (including a public charter school)." The 1000 Foot Rule may impede SEP services in areas that are in urgent need for harm reduction services, such as locations where injections are happening in "real time" or where drugs are purchased or exchanged. We examined the effects of the 1000 Foot Rule on SEP operational space in injection drug use (IDU)-related crime (i.e., heroin possession or distribution) hot spots from 2000 to 2010.

METHODS:

Data from the DC Metropolitan Police Department were used to identify IDU-related crime hot spots. School operation data were matched to a dataset that described the approximate physical property boundaries of land parcels. A 1000-ft buffer was applied to all school property boundaries. The overlap between the IDU-related crime hot spots and the school buffer zones was calculated by academic year.

RESULTS:

When overlaying the land space associated with IDU-related crime hot spots on the maps of school boundaries per the 1000-ft buffer zone stipulation, we found that the majority of land space in these locations was ineligible for legal SEP operations. More specifically, the ineligiblespace in the identified hot spots in each academic year ranged from 51.93 to 88.29 % of the total hot spot area.

CONCLUSIONS:

The removal of the 1000 Foot Rule could significantly improve the public health of PWID via increased access to harm reduction services. Buffer zone policies that restrict SEP operational space negatively affect the provision of harm reduction services to PWID.

Below:  IDU-related crime hot spots and school buffer zones in the 2008 academic year

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/Vesqga

By:  Allen ST1, Ruiz MS2, Jones J3, Turner MM2.

• 1Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. sallen63@jhu.edu.
• 2Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
• 3Department of Health Policy & Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8015, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA 
• Harm Reduct J. 2016 Apr 26;13(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s12954-016-0104-3.

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Kansas - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:   http://goo.gl/hWqn3N

Illinois - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:  http://goo.gl/t73BEx

Delaware - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:  http://goo.gl/9ie7rB

Colorado - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:  http://goo.gl/x3qz9p

Arkansas - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:  http://goo.gl/x3qz9p

Arizona - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:  http://goo.gl/x3qz9p

Alabama - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:   http://goo.gl/wMjFeU

California - Trends in Property Crime and Larceny Rates

Via:   http://goo.gl/wMjFeU

The Relationship between Atmospheric Lead Emissions & Aggressive Crime: An Ecological Study

Background

Many populations have been exposed to environmental lead from paint, petrol, and mining and smelting operations. Lead is toxic to humans and there is emerging evidence linking childhood exposure with later life antisocial behaviors, including delinquency and crime. This study tested the hypothesis that childhood lead exposure in select Australian populations is related to subsequent aggressive criminal behaviors.

Methods

We conducted regression analyses at suburb, state and national levels using multiple analytic methods and data sources. At the suburb-level, we examined assault rates as a function of air lead concentrations 15–24 years earlier, reflecting the ubiquitous age-related peak in criminal activity. Mixed model analyses were conducted with and without socio-demographic covariates. The incidence of fraud was compared for discriminant validity. State and national analyses were conducted for convergent validity, utilizing deaths by assault as a function of petrol lead emissions.

Results

Suburb-level mixed model analyses showed air lead concentrations accounted for 29.8 % of the variance in assault rates 21 years later, after adjusting for socio-demographic covariates. State level analyses produced comparable results. Lead petrol emissions in the two most populous states accounted for 34.6 and 32.6 % of the variance in death by assault rates 18 years later.

Conclusions

The strong positive relationship between childhood lead exposure and subsequent rates of aggressive crime has important implications for public health globally. Measures need to be taken to ameliorate exposure to lead and other environmental contaminants with known neurodevelopmental consequences.

Below:  Scatterplot showing the relationships between lead in air concentrations and assault rates 21 years later for all six suburbs

Below:  Scatterplot showing the relationship between lead petrol emissions and death by assault rates 18 years later for NSW

Below:  Lead in air concentrations and assault rates for six suburbs, 1973–1999

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/b4c2Wb

By:  Mark Patrick Taylor, Miriam K. Forbes, Brian Opeskin, Nick Parr, and Bruce P. Lanphear

Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University Energy and Environmental Contaminants Research Centre, Sydney, NSW Australia

Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Macquarie Law School, Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Department of Marketing and Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Department of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC Canada

Mark Patrick Taylor, Email: ua.ude.qm@rolyat.kram.

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Ecologic Factors Relating to Firearm Injuries and Gun Violence in Chicago

Highlights

• Ecologic variables related to firearm-related injuries and crime were explored.
• The Illinois Trauma Registry and the Chicago Police Department's CLEAR were analyzed.
• Weekday, daily temperature, and rain are associated with firearm injuries and crime.
• Snow was not found to be associated with either firearm-related injuries or crime.

Background

Firearm violence is a major burden on Chicago with greater than 1500 gunshot injuries occurring annually. Identifying ecologic variables related to the incidence of firearm-related injuries and crime could prove useful for developing new strategies for reducing gun-related injuries.

Methods

The Illinois Trauma Registry (ITSR) and the Chicago Police Department's CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) dataset were retrospectively analyzed to investigate group-level factors potentially related to the incidence of gun-related injuries and crime in Chicago from 1999 through 2012. Multivariate linear regression was used to evaluate the effects of day of the week, daily maximum temperature, precipitation, and snow on the incidence of firearm-related injuries and crime.

Results

A total of 18,655 gunshot wounds occurred during the study period (ITSR, 1999–2009). There were 156,866 acts of gun violence identified in the CLEAR dataset (2002–2012). Day of the week, daily maximum temperature, and precipitation were associated with differential risks of gun injury and violence. Rain decreased firearm-related injuries by 9.80% [RR: 0.902, 95% CI: 0.854–0.950] and crime by 7.00% [RR: 0.930, 95% CI: 0.910–0.950]. Gunshot wounds were 33% [RR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.29–1.37] more frequent on Fridays and Saturdays and gun crime was 18% [RR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.16–1.20] more common on these days. Snow was not associated with firearm-related injuries or crime.

Conclusions

Day of the week, daily maximum temperature, and rain are associated with the incidence of firearm-related injuries and crime. Understanding the effects of these variables may allow for the development of predictive models and for risk-adjusting injury and crime data.

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By:  Kieltyka J1, Kucybala K2, Crandall M3.

• 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University, United States. Electronic address: j-kieltyka@northwestern.edu.
• 2Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, United States.
• 3Department of Surgery, University of Florida - Jacksonville, United States. 
• J Forensic Leg Med. 2016 Jan;37:87-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2015.11.003. Epub 2015 Nov 29.

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Context Matters: The Impact of Neighborhood Crime & Paranoid Symptoms on Psychosis Risk Assessment

Psychosis risk assessment measures probe for paranoid thinking, persecutory ideas of reference, and suspiciousness as part of a psychosis risk construct. However, in some cases, these symptoms may reflect a normative, realistic, and even adaptive response to environmental stressors rather than psychopathology. 

Neighborhood characteristics, dangerousness for instance, are linked to levels of fear and suspiciousness that can be theoretically unrelated to psychosis. Despite this potential confound, psychosis-risk assessments do not explicitly evaluate neighborhood factors that might (adaptively) increase suspiciousness. In such cases, interviewers run the risk of misinterpreting adaptive suspiciousness as a psychosis-risk symptom. Ultimately, the degree to which neighborhood factors contribute to psychosis-risk assessment remains unclear. 

The current study examined the relation between neighborhood crime and suspiciousness as measured by the SIPS among predominantly African American help-seeking adolescents (N=57) living in various neighborhoods in Baltimore City. Uniform Crime Reports, including violent and property crime for Baltimore City, were used to calculate a proxy of neighborhood crime. This crime index correlated with SIPS suspiciousness (r(55)=.32, p=.02). Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that increased neighborhood crime significantly predicted suspiciousness over and above the influence of the other SIPS positive symptoms in predicting suspiciousness. 

Findings suggest that neighborhood crime may in some cases account for suspiciousness ascertained as part of a psychosis risk assessment, and therefore sensitivity to contextual factors is important when evaluating risk for psychosis.

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By:  Wilson C1, Smith ME2, Thompson E1, Demro C1, Kline E3, Bussell K4, Pitts SC1, DeVylder J2, Reeves G3, Schiffman J5.

• 1University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Human Services Psychology (http://psychology.umd.edu/), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, United States.
• 2University of Maryland, School of Social Work, 525 W. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
• 3Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Public Psychiatry, 75 Fenwood Road, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
• 4University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 2120, United States.
• 5University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Human Services Psychology, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, United States. Electronic address: jschiffma@umbc.edu. 
• Schizophr Res. 2016 Jan 14. pii: S0920-9964(16)30007-X. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2016.01.007.

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Exploring the Defensive Actions of Drug Sellers in Open-Air Markets: A Systematic Social Observation

Objectives: The current study contributes to the literature through a systematic social observation of the defensive actions of drug sellers within open-air retail markets. The study expands upon previous literature by incorporating a novel data collection and coding method.

Methods: Video footage of narcotics transactions was extracted from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system of the Newark, NJ Police Department. Researchers transcribed and coded the footage to measure the frequency of defensive actions incorporated by drug sellers. Fisher’s exact tests measured whether the frequency of each defensive action significantly differed across geographic setting or time of day.

Results: The frequency of many defensive actions was significantly related to geographic setting and time of day. The strongest relationship was observed between the use of stash spots and setting. Overall, the findings suggest that drug sellers adopt tenets of Opportunity Theory to protect themselves from law enforcement, specifically by acting as guardians and place managers on their own behalf.

Conclusions: This study extends prior techniques and provides an additional case study on the use of CCTV footage in the study of street-level crime. This methodology can be used in concert with more traditional ethnographic techniques in the study of the drug trade and in crime-and-place research in general.

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By:  

Eric L. Piza1⇑

Victoria A. Sytsma2

¹Department of Law and Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, NY, USA

²Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Eric L. Piza, Department of Law and Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, NY, USA. Email: epiza@jjay.cuny.edu

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