This research examines the role that various background, labor market, and street lifestyle factors play in street youths' drug and alcohol use. Using a sample of 200 homeless male street youths, the researcher found that exposure to parental substance abuse increases street youths' risk of alcohol and hard-drug use. Further, histories of physical abuse are related to the use of psychedelic drugs. The data also indicate that long-term homelessness influences hard-drug use, whereas drug- and alcohol-using peers influence the use of alcohol, marijuana, and psychedelic drugs. Participation in property crime increases street youths' use of all types of drugs and alcohol, whereas drug distribution is linked to greater soft-drug use. Finally, job histories and depression are linked to alcohol and hard-drug use, whereas self-blame for unemployment increases alcohol use.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Akers, R. L. , Krohn, M. D., Lanza-Kaduce, L., Radosevich, M. (1979). Social learning and deviant behavior: A specific test of a general theory. American Sociological Review, 44, 636-655.
2.
Akerstrom, M. (1985). Crooks and squares. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
3.
Anderson, A. R. , & Henry, C. S. (1994). Family systems characteristics and parental behaviors as predictors of adolescent substance use. Adolescence, 29, 405-420.
4.
Barnes, G. M. , Farrel, M. P., & Cairns, A. (1986). Parental socialization factors and adolescent drinking behaviors. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 27-36.
5.
Baron, S. W. , & Hartnagel, T. F. (1998). Street youth and criminal violence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 35, 166-192.
6.
Box, S. (1987). Recession, crime and punishment. New York: Macmillan.
7.
Box, S. , & Hale C. (1985). Unemployment, imprisonment and prison overcrowding. Contemporary Crises, 9, 209-228.
8.
Brown, S. , Creamer, V., & Stetson, B. A. (1987). Adolescent alcohol expectations in relation to personal and parental drinking patterns. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 117-121.
9.
Burman, P. (1988). Killing time, losing ground: Experiences of unemployment. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Wall and Thompson.
10.
Cannon, S. R. (1976). Social functioning patterns of families of offspring receiving treatment for drug abuse. New York: Libra.
11.
Caputo, T. , & Ryan, C. (1991). The police response to youth at risk. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Solicitor General.
12.
Carpenter, C. , Glassner, B., Johnson, B. D., & Loughlin, J. (1988). Kids, drugs, alcohol and crime. Lexington MA: Lexington Books.
13.
Chaiken, J. M. , & Chaiken, M. R. (1982). Varieties of criminal behavior. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
14.
Chaiken, J. M. , & Chaiken, M. R. (1990). Drugs and predatory crime. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice (Vol. 12, pp. 203-239). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
15.
Cloward, R. A. , & Ohlin, L. E. (1960). Delinquency and opportunity. New York: Free Press.
16.
Cohen, A. K. (1955). Delinquent boys. New York: Free Press.
17.
Cromwell, P. F. , Olson, J. N., & Avary, D. W. (1991). Breaking and entering: An ethnographic analysis of burglary. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
18.
Dembo, R. , Dertke, M., La Voie, L., Borders, S., Washburn, M., & Schmeidler, J. (1987). Physical abuse, sexual victimization and illicit drug use: A structural analysis among high risk adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 10, 13-33.
19.
Dembo, R. , Williams, L., La Voie, L., Berry, E., Getreu, A., Wish, E. D., Schmeidler, J., & Washburn, M. (1989). Physical abuse, sexual victimization, and illicit drug use: Replication of a structural analysis among a new sample of high risk youths. Violence and Victims, 4, 121-137.
20.
Dembo, R. , Williams, L., Wothke, W., Schmeidler, J., & Hendricks Brown, C. (1992). The role of family factors, physical abuse, and sexual victimization experiences in high-risk youths' alcohol and other drug use and delinquency: A longitudinal model. Violence and Victims, 7, 245-266.
21.
Denton, R. E. , & Kampfe, C. (1994). The relationship between family variables and adolescent substance abuse: A literature review. Adolescence, 29, 475-495.
22.
Elliott, D. S. , Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. (1985). Explaining drug use and delinquency. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
23.
Elliott, D. S. , Huizinga, D., & Menard, S. (1989). Multiple problem youth: Delinquency, substance abuse, and mental health problems. New York/Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
24.
Fagan, J. , & Chin, K. L. (1991). Social processes of initiation into crack. Journal of Drug Issues, 21, 313-343.
25.
Fagan, J. , Weis, J. G., & Cheng, Y. T. (1990). Delinquency and substance use among inner-city students. Journal of Drug Issues, 20, 351-402.
26.
Faupel, C. E. (1988). Heroin use, crime and employment status. Journal of Drug Issues, 18, 467-479.
27.
Faupel, C. E. (1996). The drugs-crime connection among stable addicts. In P. Cromwell (Ed.), In their own words (pp. 180-188). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
28.
Feeny, F. (1996). Robbers as decision makers. In P. Cromwell (Ed.), In their own words (pp. 87-97). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
29.
Gaborino J. , & Gilliam, G. (1980). Understanding abusive families. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
30.
Hagan, J. , & McCarthy, B. (1992). Streetlife and delinquency. British Journal of Sociology, 42, 533-561.
31.
Hagan, J. , & McCarthy, B. (1997). Mean streets. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
32.
Hartnagel, T. F. (1990). Under/unemployment and crime among youth: A longitudinal study of recent high school graduates (Discussion Paper 23). University of Alberta, Centre for Criminological Research.
33.
Hartnagel, T. F. (1992). Drug use and the transition to young adulthood: A longitudinal test of a social control perspective (Discussion Paper 28). University of Alberta, Centre for Criminological Research.
34.
Hindelang, M. J. , Hirschi, T., & Weiss, J. G. (1981). Measuring delinquency. Beverly Hills CA: Sage.
35.
Huba, G. J. , & Bentler, P. M. (1980). The role of peer and adult role models for drug taking at different stages in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 449-465.
36.
Huizinga, D. , & Elliott, D. S. (1986). Reassessing the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 2, 293-327.
37.
Hunner, R. J. , & Walker, Y. E. (1981). Exploring the relationship between child abuse and delinquency. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun and Co.
38.
Inciardi, J. A. , Horowitz, R., & Pottieger, A. E. (1993). Street kids, street drugs, street crime. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
39.
Johnson, B. D. , Goldstein, P. J., Preble, E., Schmeidler, J., Lipton, D., Spunt, B., & Miller, T. (1985). Taking care of business: The economics of crime by heroin abusers. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
40.
Johnson, B. D. , Wish, E., Schmeidler, J., & Huizinga, D. (1991). Concentration of delinquent offending: Serious drug involvement and high delinquency rates. Journal of Drug Issues, 21, 205-229.
41.
Johnson, R. E. (1979). Juvenile delinquency and its origins: An integrated theoretical approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
42.
Kandel, D. B. (1996). The parental and peer contexts of adolescent deviance: An algebra of interpersonal influences. Journal of Drug Issues, 26, 289-315.
43.
Kaplan, H. B. (1985). Testing a general theory of drug abuse and other deviant adaptations. Journal of Drug Issues, 15, 477-492.
44.
Kaplan, H. B. (1996). Empirical validation of the applicability of an integrative theory of deviant behavior to the study of drug use. Journal of Drug Issues, 26, 345-377.
45.
Khantzian, E. J. (1985). The self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders: Focus on heroin and cocaine dependence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1259-1264.
46.
Krohn, M. D. , Akers, R. L., Radosevich, M. D., & Lanza-Kaduce, L. (1982). Norm qualities and adolescent drinking and drug behavior: The effects of norm quality and reference group on using and abusing alcohol and marijuana. Journal of Drug Issues, 4, 343-460.
47.
McRae, S. (1987). Young and jobless. London: Policy Studies Institute.
48.
Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press of Glencoe.
49.
Newcombe, M. D. , & Bentler, P. M. (1986). Cocaine use among adolescents: Longitudinal associations with social context, psychopathology and use of other substances. Addictive Behaviors, 11, 263-273.
50.
Newcombe, M. D. , Fahy, B. N., & Skager, R. (1988). Correlates of cocaine use among adolescents. Journal of Drug Issues, 18, 327-354.
51.
Newcombe, M. D. , & Harlow, L. L. (1986). Life events and substance use among adolescents. Mediating effects of perceived loss of control and meaningless in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 564-577.
52.
Norusis, M. J. (1993). SPSS for Windows: Base systems user's guide, release 6.0. Chicago: SPSS.
53.
Palenski, J. E. (1984). Kids who run away. Saratoga, CA: R & E.
54.
Radford, J. L. , King, A. J. C., & Warren, W. K. (1989). Street youth and AIDS. Ottawa: Health and Welfare Canada.
55.
Robertson, M. J. , Koegel, P., & Ferguson, L. (1989). Alcohol use and abuse among homeless adolescents in Hollywood. Contemporary Drug Problems, 16, 333-390.
56.
Rothman, J. (1991). Runaway and homeless youth. New York: Longman.
57.
Shover N. , & Honaker, D. (1996). The socially bounded decision making of persistent property offenders. In P. Cromwell (Ed.), In their own words (pp. 10-23). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
58.
Simons, R. L. , Conger, R., & Whitbeck, L. B. (1988). A multistage social learning model of influences of family and peers upon adolescent substance abuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 18, 293-315.
59.
Simons, R. L. , & Robertson, J. F. (1989). The impact of parenting factors, deviant peers, and coping style upon adolescent drug use. Family Relations, 38, 273-281.
60.
Smart, R. G. , & Adlaf, E. M. (1991). Substance use and problems among Toronto street youth. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 999-1010.
61.
Smart, R. G. , Adlaf, E. M., Porterfield, K. M., & Canale, M. D. (1990). Drugs, youth and the street. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Addictions Research Foundation.
62.
Smart, R. G. , Adlaf, E. M., Walsh, G. W., & Zdanowicz, Y. (1994). Similarities in drug use and depression among runaway students and street youth. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 85, 17-18.
63.
Statistics Canada . (1993a). Labour force annual survey Cat. No. 71-220. Canada: Author.
64.
Statistics Canada . (1993b). The labour force Cat. No. 71-001, July.Canada: Author.
65.
Stephens, R. C. (1985). The sociocultural view of heroin use: Toward a role-theoretic model. Journal of Drug Issues, 15, 433-446.
66.
Unger, J. B. , Kipke, M. D., Simon, T., Johnson, C. J., Montgomery, S. B., & Iverson, E. (1998). Stress, coping, and social support among homeless youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 13, 134-157.
67.
Wallace, C. (1987). For richer, for poorer. London: Tavistock.
68.
Webber, M. (1991). Street kids: The tragedy of Canada's runaways. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
