Challenges to the Age-Crime Curve: The Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on Crime

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Historically, the age-crime curve predicted criminality peaks in adolescence, however this notion is shifting as distinctions between age groups is lessening. One theorized explanation for this is the increased population of those who use drugs and become life-course persistent offenders. A unique population of individuals who use drugs are those who misuse prescription opioids as their illegal drug use is more likely to start legal, their initiation of misuse occurs at later ages, and their misuse is linked to property crime. Therefore, I aim to understand whether people who misuse prescription opioids start their criminal career at later ages and desist later than what would be expected from the age-crime curve. To explore their criminal careers, I will analyze the joint relationship of drug use and criminal justice involvement in two national repeated cross-sectional surveys: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2002-2014 and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program from 1998-2003 and 2007-2013. I plan to estimate the association between prescription drug misuse and arrest. I will then plot the effect of prescription opioid misuse on the age-crime curve to descriptively visualize differences in the crime rates between people who misuse prescription opioids and the general population.

Author

• Taryn Curie, University of Maryland