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From page 182... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 182 4 Alcohol, Other Psychoactive Drugs, and Violence The connections between violence and alcohol and other psychoactive drugs -- primarily opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and hallucinogens -- have rarely received much weight in developing national policy. Historically, mercantilist national ambitions, tariff revenue, presumed medical properties, the ethnic and social status of users, and moral assessments of alcohol and other drug use have played more prominent roles in formulating drug policy (Musto, 1973) Read the entire page →
From page 183... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 183 have been discovered between certain psychoactive drugs (including alcohol) and violence, but certainly no basis for a blanket assertion that taking any of them causes people to behave violently. Read the entire page →
From page 184... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 184 PATTERNS OF USE AND VIOLENCE Alcohol Situational Drinking Most studies of alcohol use and violence focus on situational relationships between episodes of drinking and violent events; in general, pre-1981 studies find alcohol use by the perpetrator or the victim immediately before more than half of all violent events (Greenberg, 1981) Read the entire page →
From page 185... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 185 Chronic Drinking Only a few studies exist of the relationship between chronic drinking and potentials for violent behavior. In one sample of diagnosed alcoholics, 29 percent had a history of serious violence, including weapon use and inflicting injuries requiring medical attention (Shuckit and Russell, 1984) Read the entire page →
From page 186... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 186 Use Among Arrestees Data on the prevalence of drug-positive tests among arrestees are available from the DUF program, in which samples of arrestees are voluntarily tested for 10 drugs other than alcohol (see note 1) Read the entire page →
From page 187... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 187 and assault than do nonusers of drugs (Blumstein et al., 1986; Chaiken and Chaiken, 1990; Cohen, 1986; Johnson et al., 1985) Read the entire page →
From page 188... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 188 epidemics unfolded. Homicide trends during those years varied from decreases in Detroit and Los Angeles to an increase of more than 350 percent in Washington, D.C. Read the entire page →
From page 189... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 189 PHARMACOLOGICAL LINKS BETWEEN DRUG USE AND VIOLENCE Alcohol Experimental and ethological (i.e., seminatural setting) studies demonstrate that low acute doses of alcohol temporarily increase, and high doses temporarily decrease, aggressive behavior in many animal species, including fish, lower mammals, primates, and humans. Read the entire page →
From page 190... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 190 with rodents and primates, acute low alcohol doses were found to increase aggressive behavior in individuals who already had high blood testosterone levels by more than in other individuals, presumably as a result of testosterone action in the brain. The fact that males are more likely than females to behave violently after consuming alcohol also suggests the possibility of an endocrinological interaction. Read the entire page →
From page 191... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 191 antisocial act, alcohol doses produced an electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormality consistent with temporal lobe damage that is aggravated by the alcohol (Marinacci and von Hagen, 1972) Read the entire page →
From page 192... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 192 in a subset of individuals. Long-term frequent use may change the nervous system in ways that induce psychosis, and violent behavior sometimes occurs during drug-induced psychosis. Read the entire page →
From page 193... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 193 rage. A return of those feelings during withdrawal could precipitate violent behavior. Read the entire page →
From page 194... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 194 10 percent among chronic users in the general population to perhaps two-thirds among users with preexisting psychopathology. Thus, while chronic amphetamine use seems more closely related to violent behavior than is use of other psychoactive drugs, the strength of the relationship depends on the user's prior psychiatric condition. Read the entire page →
From page 195... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 195 During the past two decades, five major scientific reviews of the research literature have concluded that violent human behavior is either decreased or unaffected by cannabis use. Similarly, studies of many animal species demonstrate that acute doses of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, promote submissive and flight responses and, at least in large doses, inhibit attack and threat behavior. Read the entire page →
From page 196... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 196 aggression, a few are experiencing reductions. An analogous scattering of individual responses occurs in the high range. Read the entire page →
From page 197... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 197 Identifying a link between specific childhood behaviors or personality disorders and adult violent behavior under the influence of alcohol or other drugs does not explain episodes of such behavior in adults without either of the disorders. Theoretical and clinical literature reviewed by Fagan (1990) Read the entire page →
From page 198... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 198 in ways that may increase the chance of disputes or aggravate their consequences: appraisal of the consequences of behavior, the sending and receiving of socially significant signals, and threat attribution. These disruptions can accelerate exchanges of threats and violent behaviors, which may help to account for the previously noted high prevalences of blood alcohol in both perpetrators and victims of violence. Read the entire page →
From page 199... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 199 are expected to fight when intoxicated as young men, yet older "family men" are expected to avoid violence when intoxicated. Despite these general tendencies, behavioral differences across individuals and situations within any single culture suggest that the cultural pattern explanation is incomplete. Read the entire page →
From page 200... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 200 more conducive to its expression, where in fact they did express it. There is a need for more rigorous research, involving larger samples, to test alternative explanations. Read the entire page →
From page 201... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 201 Economic Violence In his analysis of New York City homicides, Goldstein et al. Read the entire page →
From page 202... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 202 number of reported property crimes including robbery decreased by more than 20 percent, from 53,870 to 42,783. In short, while economic drug-related violence is almost certainly more common than Goldstein's estimate of 2 percent would suggest, its importance is apparently specific to expensive dependence-producing drugs and therefore declining as smokable crack replaces heroin as the drug of choice, and crack selling becomes a source of substantial income. Read the entire page →
From page 203... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 203 to drug disputes; participants in related illegal markets such as protection rackets, firearms, and hired "enforcement"; and prostitutes who also sell or use crack. This kind of violence is especially difficult to study safely, so little is known about it. Read the entire page →
From page 204... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 204 funds spent on illegal drugs. In-depth interviews or ethnographic observation may be needed to discover the drug connection in some disputes that turn violent -- over strained family finances, too many nights away from home, careless job or school performance, or other problems that may or may not be consequences of drug use. Read the entire page →
From page 205... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 205 legitimate economy had already weakened neighborhood social controls against violence. The few remaining "old heads" who had acted as community social monitors lost respect because of their reduced economic status and became too intimidated by the crack market participants to exercise their moral authority (Anderson, 1990) Read the entire page →
From page 206... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 206 offenders and to terminate or reduce drug use through a variety of treatment techniques; and (4) community-level interventions: increases in alcohol excise tax rates, and police tactics intended to disrupt illegal drug markets. Read the entire page →
From page 207... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 207 and social backgrounds; and prevailing social conditions. Research on possible violence-promoting effects of smoking crack cocaine should also receive high priority. Read the entire page →
From page 208... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 208 Individual-Level Interventions for Adults Incarceration of Drug-Using Offenders The strategy of selectively longer incarceration terms for convicted offenders with histories of drug use (and other characteristics associated with higher offending frequencies) was considered in depth by the Panel on Research on Criminal Careers (Blumstein et al., 1986) Read the entire page →
From page 209... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 209 with no postrelease follow-up. Not surprisingly, such treatment is not sufficiently intense to demonstrate effectiveness in changing violent, criminal, or drug use behavior following release. Read the entire page →
From page 210... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 210 have produced a delayed decrease in violent crimes reported to the police. However, the effect is uncertain because the experimental controls broke down (Uchida et al., 1990) Read the entire page →
From page 211... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 211 RESEARCH AND EVALUATION NEEDS This chapter has discussed findings about a number of links between violence and psychoactive drugs including alcohol. While progress has been made in understanding those links and using them to reduce violence, much remains to be done. Read the entire page →
From page 212... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 212 for incarcerated drug-using violent offenders with coordinated postrelease follow-up in the community, and police disruption of illegal drug markets in cooperation with local community-based organizations. NOTES 1The urine specimens are tested for cocaine, opiates, marijuana, PCP, methadone, benzodiazepine (Valium) Read the entire page →
From page 213... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 213 of aggressiveness. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 27:641-644. Read the entire page →
From page 214... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 214 Cloninger, C.R., S Sigvardsson, S.B. Read the entire page →
From page 215... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 215 Drug Abuse. Rockville, Md.: Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Read the entire page →
From page 216... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 216 alcohol problems in three migrant Hispanic cultures. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 42:217-240. Read the entire page →
From page 217... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 217 the community. In Michael Tonry and J Read the entire page →
From page 218... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 218 Moore, M.H., and D Gerstein, eds. Read the entire page →
From page 219... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 219 Seltzer, A 1980 Acculturation and mental disorder in the Inuit. Read the entire page →
From page 220... ... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 220 Westermeyer, J., and J Brantner 1972 Violent death and alcohol use among the Chippewa in Minnesota. Read the entire page →

From page 182...

... ALCOHOL, OTHER PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE 182 4 Alcohol, Other Psychoactive Drugs, and Violence The connections between violence and alcohol and other psychoactive drugs -- primarily opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and hallucinogens -- have rarely received much weight in developing national policy. Historically, mercantilist national ambitions, tariff revenue, presumed medical properties, the ethnic and social status of users, and moral assessments of alcohol and other drug use have played more prominent roles in formulating drug policy (Musto, 1973)