This study is an attempt to test a status model of heroin addiction. It is hypothesized that the level of service/treatment (i.e., prison or community-based treatment) will be associated with the psychological characteristics of heroin addicts obtained from self-report data. For analysis purposes, 92 heroin and non-heroin addicts were studied. The findings show that the psychological characteristics of prisoners are no more negative (and in some cases are even more positive) than those in a community-based treatment program or those of a non-addicted control group. From a conceptual perspective, the status model used in this study presents an approach to explaining differences among heroin addicts and non-heroin addicts.
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