Examining Gender- and Drug-Specific Arrest Counts: A Partial Test of Agnew’s General Strain Theory

ABSTRACT

Despite Agnew`s extension of general strain theory to the macro-level, little attention has been devoted to assessing of the link between community characteristics and gender-specific drug arrests. Prior studies have also neglected to explore gender-based disparities in aggregate arrests for specific drugs. This study examines the influence of community characteristics in explaining variability in gender- and drug-specific arrest counts across 165 cities. Results highlight that the influence of police per capita, drug-specific mortality, and region on drug arrests vary significantly by gender, while the influence of structural disadvantage is relatively consistent between genders.

Notes

¹ HHS Region 2 (New York and New Jersey) is excluded from analyses because the sample does not include places in the states in this region. Additionally, only 1 city in the sample is located in HHS Region 9. Exclusion of this city in supplementary analyses results in substantively identical findings.

² ICD code 40.5 combines cocaine and its derivatives, including crack. Thus, the mortality rate calculated using ICD code 40.5 is used in our analyses of both cocaine and crack.

³ Methamphetamine-related deaths are identified with ICD code T43.6 for psychostimulants with abuse potential (Calcaterra and Binswanger 2013).

⁴ This test takes the form: Z = b₁ − b₂/√ (SEb₁² + SEb₂²).

⁵ Percent change interpretations are obtained by multiplying a raw coefficient by the standard deviation of that predictor, exponentiating the product, subtracting 1, and multiplying the result by 100 ([exp(B1 × SD1) − 1] × 100).

⁶ To conserve space, estimates of the association between drug-specific mortality rates and corresponding arrests are each depicted in a single row. In analysis of the composite measure of drug arrests, for example, the coefficient estimates the influence of the overall drug related mortality rate. In contrast, in our analyses of cocaine, the estimate in this row represents the association between cocaine related deaths and cocaine arrests.