The British Journal of Psychiatry 128: 428-435 (1976)
© 1976 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Heroin misuse and delinquency in a new town
J Mott and NH Rathod
The subjects of this study were eighty misusers of heroin who lived in the
New Town of Crawley, West Sussex. The relationship between their criminal
histories and their histories of drug misuse were examined. It was found
that more of the heroin misusers than would be expected had been convicted
of criminal offenses before they began to misuse drugs, while the reduction
or cessation of heroin use during a four-year follow-up period was
accompanied by a reduction in convictions. Some social characteristics of
the male heroin misusers were compared with those of two other Crawley
groups--a group of juvenile offenders who did not misuse heroin and their
control group of non-delinquents. Characteristics commonly associated with
maladjustment did not distinguish the heroin misusers from the juvenile
offenders, nor were they found to be associated with the continued use of
heroin. Analysis of the data in epidemiological terms suggested that among
the necessary conditions for an outbreak of drug misuse in a particular
community the availability of drugs together with socializing drug users
were more important than the presence of predisposed individuals.
