Introduction
Today the world is still reeling from the shocking surge of drug abuse cases. Drug abuse and addiction have direct negative effects for the individual and the society at large. Drug abuse is defined as the continued use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in a way or method that is harmful to their health. Prolonged drug abuse seeks to drug addiction which is a chronic brain disease that drives the victim to compulsive drug use despite the underlying harmful consequences ("Drug abuse by mature women takes its toll in the US", 1998, P. 9). Drug abuse is a serious concern in the health sector across the world that affects individuals, family, society, and the government. Every year, drug abuse causes millions of deaths, illnesses, and injuries to people. It also plays a major role in many social problems such violent behaviors, child abuse, and accidents caused by drunk-driving. Drug abuse can lead to loss of employment, family breakups, child negligence, and homelessness. Women drug abuse is believed to be the determinant factor in the participation of women in crime. Further, it has been argued that the level of drug abuse among women closely relates to their criminality. The paper will demonstrate how drug abuse among women is a defining factor in female’s criminality. The paper will rely on previous researches and peer-reviewed journals as its baseline to prove the hypothesis.
Research and studies on Drug Abuse and women criminality.
Globally, women criminality is different from men, while men are likely to be imprisoned for violent crimes such as robbery, women will be incarcerated for non-violent crimes. Women who abuse drugs, especially those how abuse participates in crimes have exhibited prior higher levels of crime and economic hardship than men (Gomberg & Nirenberg, 1993, P.45). From these circumstances, it is clear that women are driven to drug abuse due to economic hardship which further leads them to criminal activities after addiction. Women who engage in criminal activities are likely to have a past or present history of drug abuse.
Before the 1970s, the study of women criminality and drug abuse was almost invisible to drug and crime researchers. Criminality and drug abuse among women was considered to be of less scholarly importance to researchers and hence data on the same was omitted in reports or grouped with men results (Zuckerman, 1994, P. 67). The exclusion and ignorance of the relationship between drug abuse and crime among women is the cause for the scanty information on the prevalence of drug abuse among female offenders. As the studies and research on females’ drug abuse and criminal behavior continue to improve, there are areas that remain largely unexploited. For instance, there are no studies in developing countries to determine the relationship between drug abuse and criminality in women. The paper relies on studies from developed nations as its basis for arguments.
Relationship between Women drug abuse and criminal behaviors.
Most of the knowledge and scholarly work on drug abuse and women offending comes from studies and researches from the United States of America. Criminal behavior and drug abuse in females is dynamic just like in their male counterparts. From the studies, one thing is evident; drug use is the defining factor in criminality among females (Zuckerman, 1994, 80). The severity of drug abuse among females appears to be more closely related than in their male counterparts. Existing evidence from the government and social welfare groups paints a picture of how women involvement in drug abuse relates to their participation in prostitution, drug trafficking, and property related crimes.
Women drug users play an active role in fueling the exploding illegal drug economy in United States of America. They have access to drugs for income generating purposes and personal use which gives them some sense of self-determination and financial independence. It also enables them to escape from the bonds of poverty which turns many into prostitution. Drug abuse among women can either be the driving factor to women participation in crime or it may come after the involvement in crime (Gomberg & Nirenberg, 1993, P.55). However, it seems that once a woman becomes addicted to drugs, she is more likely to engage in crime than men. Men always engage into crime before turning to drug abuse presumably after acquiring enough money to spend on the drugs.
Drugs are not the only factor contributing to criminality among women, but just main reason behind women criminality. Once a woman becomes addicted to drugs, they develop criminal behavior, for instance, become violent for no apparent reason. The escalating drug abuse among women is closely linked to the rise of women prisoners across American states. Further, prostitution is also prevalent in areas where women drug abuse is prevalent than in areas with low number of women drug abuse. The connection between prostitution and drug abuse is that women resort to prostitution to finance their drug abuse habits. Further, women addicts engage in other non-violent crimes such as theft and forgery to fund their affection. Further, drug addiction changes the crime patterns of women. For instance, when women get addicted to illicit drugs, their prostitution venture changes and they start accepting low pay for their services because they need the money to buy drugs. Their addiction drives them into a state of desperation and is forced to walk on the street accepting any offer available to fulfill their urge.
In the United States of America, Women represent the fastest growing population in the criminal justice system and has increased with over 750% margin from 1977 twice the percentage of increase of male offenders. Surprisingly, substance abuse has been identified as the major factor contributing to the increase in women offending. One of the explanations offered on the increase of female offending is that much of the war on drugs conducted in 1980s and 1990s focused majorly on male drug users and ignored females. The failure to extend the war to female abusers allowed the drug use among them to spread unchecked.
The majority of women criminals have a long history of drug abuse. Such offenders have a myriad of unique characteristics distinct from the other female non-offenders. They have complicated families, past abuse, limited education, and are unemployed. Most of the women after arrest are taken to rehabilitation centers as opposed to low fines as the law stipulates. The situation paints a picture of how drug and substance abuse of a major issue in women across the world. The judicial authorities are more likely to incarcerate female drug abusers compared to other offenders who do not use drugs.
Crime and Alcohol use
Alcohol consumption is legal in many countries and the U.S is not an exception. It plays a major role in driving many women to crime through addiction. Alcohol contributes to nearly 40% of all violent offences in America according to U.S department of Justice ("Drug abuse by mature women takes its toll in the US", 1998, P. 12). Over two million women in United States of America jails are reported to have been drunk during of their arrest. Like any other illegal drug, alcohol contributes to violent crimes in women across the world. Over three million reported cases of violent crimes are linked to alcohol addiction and consumption by women. Many of the cases of homicides by women are committed when the offender and victim were both drunk. Alcohol abuse makes women commit assaults to their immediate neighbors and the family as their judgment is impaired. There are cases where women have assaulted or killed their children due to alcohol abuse.
Women, Drug Abuse, and Crime
The relationship between crime, women and drug abuse remains overly complex to explain and handle. The universal held view that drug abuse leads women to crime has came under huge criticism in the resent years as researchers and psychologists have claimed that the assertion may true in vice-versa ("Criticism of US drug abuse research funding", 1994, P. 12). Further, there are addicts who have no criminal records and other drug users whose crime record only contains drug related offences as opposed to conventional crimes. To answer the question on the link between drug abuse, women, and crime, it is clear to important to understand that there are three categories of crimes which come into play. First, the user-related crimes, where women drug users commit crimes as a result of the drug effect on their behavior. Due to the effect, the user may engage in violent behavior.
The second one is the economy-related criminal act where the women drug users engage in crimes to fund their habit mainly through prostitution and non-violent crimes such as shop theft and pick pocketing. The third category is the crime relating from the system of the drug trade. For instance, under the United States of America laws, drug crime includes possession, manufacture, and transport and hence women can be criminally liable for handling the drugs.
Conclusion
Women and men face different challenges when incomes to drug abuse and crime because of their differences in their biological make-up. For instance, women use different drugs compared to men and often ingest small amounts of hard drugs before getting addiction unlike their male counterparts. The increase in the drug abuse among women which drives them to crime can be attributed to the dormant drug policy which has remained unchanged for so long. America policy on drug abuse needs radical changes to save the country from degenerating into a drug addicted society. Further, women are the pillars of the society and their entrance to the crime through drug abuse worsens the situation of general welfare. When women who use drugs turn to crime, there are more likely to abuse or neglect their children and hence their lifestyle affects the entire family. The federal government has always allocated less funding to drug abuse research programs, a move which downplays the critical problems possessed by drug abuse. With the number of inmates rising by three-digit figures, there should be more funding and research to come up with better policies to curb the vice. The failure to curb drug abuse results to broken dreams, opportunities, and denies children the right to parental care.
References
Criticism of US drug abuse research funding. (1994). Inpharma Weekly, &NA;(924), 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/00128413-199409240-00006
Drug abuse by mature women takes its toll in the US. (1998). Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes News, 167(1), 7-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf03295979
Gomberg, E. & Nirenberg, T. (1993). Women and substance abuse. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Pub.
Zuckerman, K. (1994). Women. Rockville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
