An Ecological Analysis of Narcotic Addicts in Baltimore

Abstract

When dealing with the problem of narcotic addiction, which contains aspects of both criminal deviance and illness, there remains a major question as to whether narcotic addiction has any relationship to other forms of social pathology. In order to explore this question, rates per 100,000 for the current narcotic addict population by census tract in Baltimore City were computed with 1965 population estimates (tabulated by the Baltimore City Health Department). The rate was then compared to rates computed in the same manner for financial dependency, adult arrests, and juvenile delinquency for Baltimore City. The latter three indices had been previously tabulated and published by the University of Maryland School of Social Work and the Health and Welfare Council of the Baltimore area. These agencies reported the estimated persons depending on public assistance for January 1, 1964, the estimated total number of arrests for 1963, and the number of juvenile delinquency cases disposed of in 1962 for Baltimore City (census tract 4-01 was omitted because it had fewer than 50 children, 8-15 years of age). These data were extracted and rates per 100,000 computed for each of the 168 census tracts with the 1965 estimated population.