ABSTRACT
Research shows that drugs and delinquency are frequently linked, the abuse of various types of substance being a widespread practice among young offenders. At the same time, some psychosocial characteristics are associated with both drug abuse and criminal/antisocial behavior. To help us explore the relationship between young offenders' drug abuse and certain psychosocial variables, we examined closed judicial files on young offenders from the Juvenile Justice Service in Jaen (Spain) corresponding to the period 2001 to 2010. From the contents of these judicial files we analyzed demographic variables such as gender and age, as well as psychosocial variables such as drug abuse, peer group, violent behavior, self-control, tolerance to frustration and attributional style. The results show that most of the young offenders use some type of drug, as well as revealing differential patterns of use according to gender. Also observed is a link between drug abuse and deviant peer group, violent behavior and the above-mentioned psychological variables. Finally, we found some differences in these psychological variables depending on the type of drug used.
Subject(s)
Criminals/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Internal-External Control , Male , SpainABSTRACT
Las investigaciones muestran que droga y delincuencia aparecen frecuentemente asociados, siendo una práctica habitual entre los menores infractores el consumo de distintos tipos de sustancias. A su vez, existen ciertas características psicosociales que están relacionadas tanto con el consumo de drogas como con la conducta delictiva y/o antisocial. Nos planteamos por tanto en este estudio profundizar sobre la relación entre el consumo de drogas en menores infractores y ciertas variables del ámbito psicosocial de este colectivo. Para conseguir este objetivo se ha analizado el total de expedientes de menores infractores archivados en el Servicio de Justicia Juvenil de la provincia de Jaén, desde 2001 hasta 2010. De los expedientes consultados se han analizado variables demográficas como el género y la edad, así como variables de tipo psicosocial como son el consumo de drogas, conducta violenta, grupo de iguales, el autocontrol, la tolerancia a la frustración y el estilo atribucional. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de los menores infractores consumen algún tipo de sustancia, así como la existencia de diferencias en el patrón de consumo en función del género. También se observa que existe relación entre el consumo de sustancias y pertenecer a un grupo de iguales desviado, la conducta violenta y las variables psicológicas mencionadas, así como diferencias en estas variables psicológicas en función del tipo de droga consumida(AU)
Research shows that drugs and delinquency are frequently linked, the abuse of various types of substance being a widespread practice among young offenders. At the same time, some psychosocial characteristics areas sociated with both drug abuse and criminal/antisocial behavior. To help us explore the relationship between young offenders drug abuse and certain psychosocial variables, we examined closed judicial files on young offenders from the Juvenile Justice Service in Jaén (Spain) corresponding to the period 2001 to 2010. From the contents of these judicial files we analyzed demographic variables such as gender and age, as well as psychosocial variables such as drug abuse, peer group, violent behavior, self-control, tolerance to frustration and attributional style. The results show that most of the young offenders use some type of drug, as well as revealing differential patterns of use according to gender. Also observed is a link between drug abuse and deviant peer group, violent behavior and the above-mentioned psychological variables. Finally, we found some differences in these psychological variables depending on the type of drug used(AU)
