Criminality as a Prognostic Factor in Opiate Dependence

¹ Consultant Psychiatrist, St. George's Hospital and Tooting Bec Hospital, London, S.W.17

The relationship between criminality and the outcome of treatment was investigated in opiate addicts attending a drug dependence clinic. A comparison was made between the criminal records of 33 male and 7 female patients who came off drugs and a control group of 29 male and 10 female patients who remained addicted. In male patients, the extent of criminal involvement (as measured by the number of previous convictions on entering treatment) failed to discriminate between those who subsequently achieved abstinence and those who remained addicted. In the small sample of female patients the control group more often had a criminal record and had more previous convictions. These results were in keeping with a previous study of female addicts.

The findings suggest that there is a sex difference in the relationship between criminality and the prognosis for addiction. In male addicts criminal involvement has no significant influence on the outcome of treatment and previous convictions are not a helpful guide to prognosis, whereas in female addicts a criminal record is of more adverse significance.