Offending, drug abuse and life chances—a longitudinal study of a Stockholm birth cohort

Abstract

There are many factors, both empirical and theoretical, which indicate that drug abuse can play an important role in explaining the links between criminality and life chances when viewed from a life-course perspective. In this article, we examine the links between crime and drug abuse and social inclusion and exclusion in adult life, and look at whether there are gender-specific patterns in these regards. The Stockholm Birth Cohort database allows us to follow a birth cohort born in 1953 to age 56. The results show that drug abuse is central both to processes of continuity in and desistance from crime and to life chances in adulthood. For the adult outcomes that relate to work and health, we also note a tendency towards polarization; the size of both the relative and the absolute differences between the comparison group and offenders with registered drug abuse increases over time. The same general pattern can be seen for males and females.

Keywords::

• life course
• social exclusion
• substance abuse
• crime
• Stockholm Birth Cohort study
• Sweden

Notes

¹ The age for criminal responsibility in Sweden is 15.

² The Social Register contains dossiers of cases of dependency and CWC cases. The information relates to problematic family conditions and the cohort members' social problems in the form of substance abuse and involvement in crime. The information contained in these dossiers has been coded manually. Registers outside the metropolitan area could not be searched, which means that cohort members are not at risk of being included until they arrive in the Stockholm metropolitan area or if they leave the area, not until they return (SBC Codebook II, p. 38ff).

³ The IMS was initiated to follow the intravenous drug use in the arrest population in the Stockholm City area. Individuals who lived in Stockholm but committed their crimes in other municipalities were not included in the study (SBC Codebook IV, p. 65). Those who were arrested for minor misdemeanours, and those who did not consent to participate in the study, were also excluded from the study.

⁴ The PBA is a measure used by the government to calculate benefits in various social insurance programs. It is linked to the Consumer Price Index and is thus not eroded by inflation. In 2013, one PBA equals SEK 44,500 ( ≈ €5,000).

⁵ This means that we have excluded three small groups which include a total of 93 individuals.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council [grant number 2011-2206].