Alcohol- and Drug-Involved Crimes Disaggregated by Male Arrest Trajectories

• In Event: Offending Trajectories over the Life Course

Abstract

Purpose and design: A considerable number of criminal offenses in the U.S. involve alcohol or other drugs (e.g., Miller et al., 2006). Few longitudinal studies have disaggregated the financial costs and rates of alcohol- and drug-involved (AOD) crimes by offender trajectory groups. The purpose of this study was to compare 1) the rates and 2) financial costs of AOD-involved crimes across arrest trajectory groups, using longitudinal data from 206 at-risk men enrolled in the Oregon Youth Study. We expected that higher-level arrest trajectory groups would accrue the highest rates and financial costs compared to lower-level arrest trajectory groups. Annual counts of official arrests, types of crimes, and conviction dispositions were derived from official court records. Findings and conclusions: Semi-parametric group-based modeling using Stata (Nagin, 2005) identified three arrest trajectories from ages 10-11 to 37-38 years (controlling for mortality and exposure time): rare offenders (62.8%), low-level chronic offenders (21.6%), and high-level chronic offenders (15.7%). With notable exceptions, the highest rates and largest financial cost share of AOD-involved crimes were incurred by the high-level chronic offenders. However, rates and costs accrued by the low-level chronic offenders were also concerning. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings will be discussed.

Authors

• Margit Wiesner, University of Houston

• David M. Day, Toronto Metropolitan University

• Deborah M. Capaldi, Oregon Social Learning Center

• Idris O. Yusuf, University of Houston

• Joung Yon Choi, University of Houston

• Weiwei Wu, University of Houston