Substance Abuse and Victimization

A recent study found that girls who have been sexually or physically abused are twice as likely to smoke, drink and/or use drugs than girls who have not been abused. (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. 2003. The Formative Years: Pathways to Substance Abuse Among Girls and Young Women Ages 8-22. New York, NY.)

In the same study, more than twice as many girls in drug treatment who had been sexually abused reported use of alcohol before the age of 11 than girls who had not been sexually abused. (Ibid.)

Women who have been sexually abused as children are more than three times as likely to be alcohol dependent and two-and-one-half times as likely to be drug dependent than women who were not abused as children. (Ibid.)

Nearly half of the women seeking treatment for alcohol reported severe violence from their father during their childhood, compared to 13 percent of women in the general population. (Ibid.)

According to findings of the 1995 National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), more than one-third (34.4 percent) of boys age 12 to 17 who had been sexually assaulted demonstrated substance abuse or dependence at some point during their lifetimes, compared to a nine percent rate in non-sexually assaulted boys. The lifetime rate of substance abuse or dependence was 27.5 percent for girls who had been sexually assaulted, compared to only 5.4 percent of girls who had not. (National Institute of Justice. 2003. Youth Victimization: Prevalence and Implications. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

This same study showed a rate of lifetime substance abuse or dependence at approximately 25 percent for adolescents who had been physically assaulted or abused. This compares to a rate of approximately six percent for adolescents who had not been physically assaulted or abused. (Ibid.)

The NSA study found that 17 percent of boys and 17.8 percent of girls who witnessed violence reported lifetime substance abuse or dependence, compared with 4.4 percent of boys and 3.1 percent of girls who did not witness violence. (Ibid.)

According to a 2002 study, 40 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 who used marijuana 300 days or more in the previous year reported that they also took part in serious fighting at school or work (42 percent) or in group-on-group fighting (41 percent). (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. 2004. The NSDUH Report: Marijuana Use and Delinquent Behaviors Among Youths. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

In 2002, about one million violent crimes occurred where the victim perceived the offender had been drinking during the time of the offense. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Drugs and Crime Facts: Drug Use and Crime.” http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/dcf.pdf. Accessed October 29, 2004.)

In about one in five violent victimizations where the victim perceived the offender to have been drinking, the victim also perceived the offender to have been using drugs. (Ibid.)

Offenders perceived to be using drugs and/or alcohol committed about two in five sexual assaults and about one in four robberies against college students. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2003. Violent Victimization of College Students. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Each year, more than 600,000 college students are assaulted by other students who have been drinking. (Hingson, R.W.; Heeren, T.; Zakocs, R.C.; et al. “Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(2):136–144, 2002.)

Based on an analysis of published studies, the following percentages of violent offenders were drinking at the time of the crime: up to 86 percent of homicide offenders; 60 percent of sexual offenders; 57 percent of men and 27 percent of women involved in domestic violence; 37 percent of assault offenders; and 13 percent of child abusers. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 1997. Alcohol Alert (38). Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Health.)

While reviewing marijuana and cocaine use in offenders in urban Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring sites, it was found that violent offenders were more likely to test positive for marijuana than cocaine, while property offenders were more likely to test positive for cocaine than marijuana. (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program 2000. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.)