RT Article
T1 Narcotics use, property crime, and dealing: Structural dynamics across the addiction career
JF Journal of quantitative criminology
VO 2
IS 4
SP 355
OP 375
A1 Anglin, M. Douglas
A2 Speckart, George
LA English
YR 1986
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764279220
AB Structural-equation modeling is used to test causal relationships between narcotics addiction and the associated cost-support activities of property crime and drug dealing across four critical periods of the addiction career. It is argued that structural-equation methodology yields greater insight into the causal dynamics of such activities than the typical methodologies of comparing means and proportions. Using structural coefficients of longitudinal models to infer causal relationships and stability, it is found that (1) dealing is often a predictor of future narcotics involvement; (2) narcotics use, property crime, and dealing are mutually interrelated during periods of elevated narcotics use and are not related during periods of reduced narcotics use; (3) dealing appears to be the most stable of the three variables, although narcotics use and property crime show appreciable stability as well; and (4) property crime and dealing appear to be inversely related to a moderate extent. The relevance of these findings to the understanding of the economic behavior of addicts during the initiation and cessation of addiction, relapse, and “maturing out” is discussed.
K1 addiction careers
K1 Causal Modeling
K1 dealing
K1 Property Crime
K1 narcotics addiction
DO 10.1007/BF01064260