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Delinquency by Opiate Addicts Treated at Two London Clinics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

G. D. Wiepert ,
P. T. D'Orbán  and
Thomas H. Bewley
G. D. Wiepert
Affiliation:
Brooklyn College, City University of New York
P. T. D'Orbán
Affiliation:
Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG (St George's Hospital and Tooting Bec Hospital, London SW17)
Thomas H. Bewley
Affiliation:
St Thomas' Hospital and Tooting Bec Hospital, London SW17 8BL
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Summary

455 male and 120 female opiate addicts were treated at two London drug dependence clinics between 1968 and 1975. The delinquency pattern of 117 female addicts and of a systematic sample of 119 male addicts was analysed in relation to stages of their addiction career and outcome. Treatment had no effect on overall crime rate but there was a significant increase in the proportion of drug offences during the treatment stage. Comparisons between the sexes showed that the outcome of treatment was worse in women. In male addicts a history of delinquency had no prognostic significance, but in females convictions for non-drug offences before entering treatment might predict poor response to treatment of drug dependence.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 134 , Issue 1 , January 1979 , pp. 14 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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