This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leigey, M. E. Articles by Bachman, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Influence of Crack Cocaine on the Likelihood of Incarceration for a Violent Offense: An Examination of a Prison Sample

California State University, Chico

Ronet Bachman

University of Delaware, Newark

One of the most heated debates surrounding the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act has been about the "100 to 1" quantity ratio used for sentencing traffickers of the crack version of cocaine as compared to powder. This disparity primarily was based on the notion that crack cocaine users were more likely to engage in violence compared to their powder using counterparts (Everett, 1998; Sandy, 2003). However, there is still a paucity of empirical research that has examined the relationship between powder versus crack cocaine and violence. The purpose of this research was to investigate the following question: Do inmates who were under the influence of crack cocaine at the time of their offenses have a greater probability of being incarcerated for violent offenses compared to those offenders who were under the influence of powder cocaine? Clearly, the answer to this question is extremely relevant to policy regarding the 100 to 1 disparity in sentencing for crack offenders as mandated by the Act. Using race-specific models of logistic regression, results from this research found that respondents who were under the influence of either crack or powder cocaine were less likely to be incarcerated for a violent offense than respondents who were under the influence of alcohol. Additionally, the probabilities of serving time for a violent offense were approximately equal for individuals who were under the influence of crack cocaine compared to those who were under the influence of powder cocaine. However, the probability of serving time for a violent offense was approximately two times higher if the respondent was under the influence of alcohol compared to either crack or powder cocaine. This was true for both white and African-Americans offenders.

Key Words: crack cocaine • race • violence

References

• Alaniz, M.L., Parker, R.N., Gallegos, A., & Cartmill, R.S. (1998). Immigrants and violence: The importance of neighborhood context. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 20(2), 155—174.[Abstract]
• Allen, C. (2005). The links between heroin, crack cocaine and crime. British Journal of Criminology, 45(3), 355—372.[Abstract]
• Angelli, D.H. (1997). A "second look" at crack cocaine sentencing policies: One more try for federal protection. American Criminal Law Review, 34(3), 1211—1241.
• Bachman, R. & Paternoster, R. (2003). Statistics for criminology and criminal justice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
• Baum, D. (1996). Smoke and mirrors. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
• Beckett, K. (1997). Making crime pay. New York: New York University Press.
• Belenko, S.R. (1993). Crack and the evolution of anti-drug policy. London: Greenwood Press.
• Brownstein, H.H. (1991). The media and the construction of random drug violence. In L. K. Gaines & P. B. Kraska (Eds.), Drugs, crime, and justice: Contemporary perspectives (pp. 67—86). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
• U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1991). Survey of inmates of state correctional facilities, 1991. Computer file. Conducted by U.S. Dept of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Icpsr ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 1993.
• Courtwright, D.T. (2001). Violent land. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Coyle, M. (2002). Race and class penalties in crack cocaine sentencing. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.
• Dunaway, R.G., Cullen, F.T., Burton, Jr., V.S., & Evans, T.D. (2000). The myth of social class and crime revisited: An examination of class and adult criminality. Criminology, 38(2), 589—632.[CrossRef]
• Elwood, W.N. (1994). Rhetoric in the war on drugs. Westport, CT: Praeger.
• Everett, R.S. (1998). The evolution of sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine: Social constructions and social control. In E. L. Jensen & J. Gerber (Eds.), The new war on drugs (pp. 91—106). Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Co.
• Fagan, J. (1990). Intoxication and aggression in drugs and crime. In M. Tonry and J. Q. Wilson (Eds.), Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, 13, 241—320. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Fagan, J., & Chin, K. (1991). Social processes of initiation into crack. The Journal of Drug Issues, 21(2), 313—343.
• Feds oppose reducing sentences for cocaine offenses. Mental Health Weekly, 12(14), 6.
• Glaze, L.E. & Bonczar, T.P. (2006). Probation and parole in the United States, 2005 (NCJ 215091). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Goldstein, P.J. (1985). The drugs/violence nexus: A tripartite conceptual framework. Journal of Drug Issues, 15(4), 493—506.
• Goldstein, P.J., Brownstein, H.H., & Ryan, P.J. (1992). Drug-related homicide in New York: 1984 and 1988. Crime & Delinquency, 38(4), 459—476.[Abstract]
• Goldstein, P.J., Brownstein, H.H., Ryan, P.J., & Bellucci, P.A. (1989). Crack and homicide in New York City, 1988: A conceptually based event analysis. Contemporary Drug Problems, 16(4), 651—687.
• Greenfeld, G.A. (1998). Alcohol and crime (NCJ 168632). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Harrell, A.V. (1985). Validation of self-report: The research record. In B. Rouse, N. J. Kozel, & L. G. Richards (Eds.), Self-report methods of estimating drug use (pp. 12—21). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Drug Abuse.
• Harrison, L. (1995). The validity of self-reported data on drug use. The Journal of Drug Issues, 25(1), 91—111.
• Harrison, L., & Gfroerer, J. (1992). The intersections of drug use and criminal behaviors: Results for the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Crime & Delinquency, 38(4), 422—443.[Abstract]
• Harrison, P.M., & Beck, A.J. (2005). Prisoners in 2004 (NCJ 210677). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Hatsukami, D.K., & Fischman, M.W. (1996). Crack cocaine and cocaine hydrochloride: Are the differences myth or reality? The Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, 580—589.
• Inciardi, J., & Pottieger, A. (1994). Crack cocaine use and street crime. Journal of Drug Issues, 24(2), 273—292.
• Inciardi, J., Surratt, H., Chitwood, D., & McCoy, C. (1996). The origins of crack. In D. Chitwood, J. Rivers, and J. Inciardi (Eds.), The American pipe dream (pp. 1—14). Philadelphia: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
• Johnson, R.J., Baumler, E.R., Yacoubian, Jr., G.S., Peters, Jr., R.J., & Ross, M.W. (2001). A longitudinal analysis of drug use reporting among Houston arrestees. Journal of Drug Issues, 31(3), 757—766.
• Karberg, J.C., & James, D.J. (2005). Substance dependence, abuse, and treatment of jail inmates, 2002 (NCJ 209588). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Knight, K., Hiller, M.L., Simpson, D.D., & Broome, K.M. (1998). The validity of self-reported cocaine use in a criminal justice treatment sample. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 24(4), 647—662.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Langan, P.A., & Levin, D.J. (2002). Recidivism of prisoners released in 1994 (NCJ 193427). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Levitt, S.D., & Dubner, S.J. (2005). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. New York: William Morrow.
• Lu, N.T., Taylor, B.G., & Riley, K.J. (2001). The validity of adult arrestee self-reports of crack cocaine use. American Journal of Drug Abuse, 27(3), 399—419.[CrossRef]
• MacAndrew, C., & Edgerton, R.B. (1969). Drunken comportment: A social explanation. Chicago: Aldine.
• Mahan, S. (1996). Crack cocaine, crime, and women. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Mauer, M., & Huling, T. (1995). Young black Americans and the criminal justice system: 5 years later. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.
• Miller, J. (1996). Search and destroy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Miller, J. (1998). Up it up: Gender and the accomplishment of street robbery. Criminology, 36(1), 37—66.[CrossRef]
• Parker, R.N. (1995). Alcohol & homicide: A deadly combination of two American traditions. Albany, NY: State University Press.
• Parker, R.N., & Auerhahn, K. (1998). Alcohol, drugs, and violence. Annual Review of Sociology, 24(1), 291—311.[CrossRef]
• Paternoster, R., Brame, R., Mazerolle, P., & Piquero, A. (1998). Using the correct statistical test for the equality of regression coefficients. Criminology, 36(4), 859—872.[CrossRef]
• Reinarman, C., & Levine, H.G. (1997). Crack in context: America's latest demon drug. In C. Reinarman & H. G. Levine (Eds.), Crack in America (pp. 1—17). Los Angeles: University of California Press.
• Resignato, A.J. (2000). Violent crime: A function of drug use or drug enforcement? Applied Economics, 32, 681—688.[CrossRef]
• Sabet, K.A. (2005). Making it happen: The case for compromise in the federal cocaine law debate. Social Policy & Administration, 39(2), 181—191.[CrossRef]
• Sandy, K.R. (2003). The discrimination inherent in American's drug war: Hidden racism revealed by examining the hysteria over crack. Alabama Law Review, 54, 665—690.
• Scalia, J. (2001). Federal drug o fenders, 1999, with trends 1984—1999 (NCJ 187285). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Stalans, L.J., Yarnold, P.R., Seng, M., Olson, D.E., & Repp, M. (2004). Identifying three types of violent offenders and predicting violent recidivism while on probation: A classification tree analysis. Law and Human Behavior, 28(3), 253—271.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Steffensmeier, D.J., Allan, E.A., Harer, M.D., & Streifel, C. (1989). Age and the distribution of crime. American Journal of Sociology, 94(4), 803—831.[CrossRef]
• Steiner, B.D. (2001). The consciousness of crime and punishment: Reflections on identity politics and lawmaking in the war on drugs. Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, 23, 185—212.
• United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Population Estimates, 1997. (1998) (SMA 98-3250). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies.
• United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2004). Results from the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings. (SMA 04-3964). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies.
• United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2005). Results from the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Population estimates, 2004. (SMA 05-0461). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies.
• United States Sentencing Commission. (1997 ). Cocaine and federal sentencing policy: Special report to the Congress. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
• United States Sentencing Commission. (2002 ). Cocaine and federal sentencing policy: Special report to the Congress. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
• United States Sentencing Commission. (2004 ). Sourcebook of federal sentencing statistics. Retrieved May 15, 2006 from http://www.ussc.gov/ANNRPT/2004/ar04toc.htm.
• United States Sentencing Commission. (2006 ). U. S. Sentencing Commission public hearing on cocaine sentencing policy. Retrieved December 11, 2006 from http://www.ussc.gov/hearings/11_15_06/testimony.pdf.

CiteULike

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leigey, M. E. Articles by Bachman, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?