Substance
Abuse and Victimization
A recent study found that girls who have been sexually or physically
abused are twice as likely to smoke, drink and/or use drugs than
girls who have not been abused. (The National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
2003. The Formative Years: Pathways
to Substance Abuse Among Girls and Young Women Ages 8-22. New
York, NY.)
In the same study, more than twice as many girls in drug treatment
who had been sexually abused reported use of alcohol before the
age of 11 than girls who had not been sexually abused. (Ibid.)
Women who have been sexually abused as children are more than
three times as likely to be alcohol dependent and two-and-one-half
times as likely to be drug dependent than women who were not abused
as children. (Ibid.)
Nearly half of the women seeking treatment for alcohol reported
severe violence from their father during their childhood, compared
to 13 percent of women in the general population. (Ibid.)
According to findings of the 1995 National Survey of Adolescents
(NSA), more than one-third (34.4 percent) of boys age 12 to 17
who had been sexually assaulted demonstrated substance abuse or
dependence at some point during their lifetimes, compared to a
nine percent rate in non-sexually assaulted boys. The lifetime
rate of substance abuse or dependence was 27.5 percent for girls
who had been sexually assaulted, compared to only 5.4 percent of
girls who had not. (National Institute of
Justice. 2003. Youth Victimization:
Prevalence and Implications. Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)
This same study showed a rate of lifetime substance abuse or dependence
at approximately 25 percent for adolescents who had been physically
assaulted or abused. This compares to a rate of approximately six
percent for adolescents who had not been physically assaulted or
abused. (Ibid.)
The NSA study found that 17 percent of boys and 17.8 percent of
girls who witnessed violence reported lifetime substance abuse
or dependence, compared with 4.4 percent of boys and 3.1 percent
of girls who did not witness violence. (Ibid.)
According to a 2002 study, 40 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 who
used marijuana 300 days or more in the previous year reported that
they also took part in serious fighting at school or work (42 percent)
or in group-on-group fighting (41 percent). (Substance
Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. 2004. The
NSDUH Report: Marijuana Use and Delinquent Behaviors Among Youths.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)
In 2002, about one million violent crimes occurred where the victim
perceived the offender had been drinking during the time of the
offense. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. Drugs
and Crime Facts: Drug Use and Crime. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/dcf.pdf.
Accessed October 29, 2004.)
In about one in five violent victimizations where the victim perceived
the offender to have been drinking, the victim also perceived the
offender to have been using drugs. (Ibid.)
Offenders perceived to be using drugs and/or alcohol committed
about two in five sexual assaults and about one in four robberies
against college students. (Bureau of Justice
Statistics. 2003. Violent Victimization
of College Students. Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)
Each year, more than 600,000 college students are assaulted by
other students who have been drinking. (Hingson,
R.W.; Heeren, T.; Zakocs, R.C.; et al. Magnitude of alcohol-related
mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 1824. Journal
of Studies on Alcohol, 63(2):136144,
2002.)
Based on an analysis of published studies, the following percentages
of violent offenders were drinking at the time of the crime: up
to 86 percent of homicide offenders; 60 percent of sexual offenders;
57 percent of men and 27 percent of women involved in domestic
violence; 37 percent of assault offenders; and 13 percent of child
abusers. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism. 1997. Alcohol Alert
(38). Bethesda, MD: National Institute
of Health.)
While reviewing marijuana and cocaine use in offenders in urban
Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring sites, it was found that violent
offenders were more likely to test positive for marijuana than
cocaine, while property offenders were more likely to test positive
for cocaine than marijuana. (Arrestee Drug
Abuse Monitoring Program 2000. 1999
Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees.
Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department
of Justice.)
|
National Crime Victims' Rights
Week: Justice Isn't Served Until Crime Victims Are |
April 1016, 2005 |
|