- Of violent offenders who are addicts, there is more of a likelihood that they abuse alcohol and sedatives, rather than illegal drugs (Håkansson and Jesionowska, 2018)

- This makes logical sense, because alcohol is strongly linked to (and can be a trigger for) aggressive behaviours, being involved in 50% of the violent crimes of murder, rape and assault; it gets many violent offenders into the conditioned habit of releasing their frustrations by committing these crimes
- Such habits are especially well-reinforced if offenders are in difficult personal circumstances, e.g. childhood abuse, homelessness, unemployment, with lots of ongoing frustrations which cannot be resolved easily; substance abuse and aggressive behaviours can become seemingly effective short-term ways to release frustrations 

- The biological psychology behind this is also very interesting
- It is well-documented that alcohol slows down the brain’s cognitive and motor functions, inhibiting the brain mechanisms that normally restrict acting on our immediate impulses; social inhibitions become a weaker restraint on behaviour
- This includes aggressive and violent behaviours, the consequences of which are less likely to be accurately assessed

- Violent offenders, because they are more likely to be deemed a risk to the public and fellow inmates, are more likely to go to harsher, Category A prisons, and are even separated from non-violent offenders in some prison systems

- This means that they can become surrounded by others who have committed similarly serious, or worse, offenses, and may be more experienced, repeat offenders 

- Interaction with them can positively reinforce violent offenders’ criminal behaviours, if they begin to associate violent acts with a reward, e.g. respect, positive regard (especially by allies, if they become part of a gang) 

- Further, assimilation into prison culture can turn violent, addicted offenders into better criminals, enabling them to commit crime more effectively 

- There is evidence that violent offenders in general reoffend at a higher rate: a study of more than 25,000 offenders by the United States Sentencing Commission found that they reoffend at a rate of more than 60% after release, compared to nearly 40% for non-violent offenders, and tend to reoffend sooner after release. This is partly explained by the prisonisation previously outlined 

- As addicted violent offenders also have to deal with their addiction (which, given the chronic overcrowding of the prison system, may not be resolved in prison rehabilitation), they are more at risk of reoffending because of a likelihood to abuse alcohol which, as aforementioned, has a strong link to violence 

- They typically find it harder (especially if they are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs) to interact cooperatively with people and the outside environment

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5774467/   

- https://www.verywellmind.com/alcohol-facilitates-aggression-62647 
- https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa38.htm 

- https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2019/20190124_Recidivism_Violence.pdf 

- https://www.npr.org/2013/02/01/169732840/when-crime-pays-prison-can-teach-some-to-be-better-criminals

-Consistent  and frequent consumption of a substance leads to deterioration in neurological functions that are associated with the ability to formulate new habits and successfully maintain them. Cognitive flexibility to create change in behaviour is reduced for a potentially unlimited amount of time, causing the addict to struggle to adopt new habits and to successfully maintain them, even after abstinence has taken place. Therefore, potential neurological causes of addiction are partnered with neurological damage once substance abuse has taken place continuously over time. Consequently,an inability to break addictive habits and formulate new, healthy ones, is developed.

Learning Processes 
-Habitual addictive behaviours are related to reinforcement and are conditioned by the presence of diverse environmental and motivational factors associated with the moment of consumption = seeking a  physiological high, feeling of euphoria, moments of peace and happiness . These feelings are continuously  reinforced as the experience is always the same at the moment of consumption   ( habits develop to satisfy the need to feel high, drug seeking behaviour at the expense of normal daily routines, these habits are justified by the feeling of euphoria once the drug is consumed and then the habits persist both to feel this euphoria again and later to prevent the unpleasant effects of withdrawal ( positive and negative reinforcement )
===> continuous consumption ⇒ subject gradually consolidates a behaviour associated with the result of consuming + time ⇒ behaviour is more compulsive and less flexible ( routine behaviour leads to a state of allostasis whereby the subject takes drugs no longer to feel high, but to feel right in the sense that their automated behaviours are carried out and compulsive needs are met. 
- people with dependence on alcohol scored higher on automaticity scales  and on  scales of tendencies for compulsive behaviour than people with no alcohol dependency. This suggests that high  automaticity and compulsive tendencies may be contributory factors for developing substance abuse disorders and addiction. 
- Furthermore, automaticity can be considered a conditioned behaviour that was initially driven by motivation factors to experience pleasure or avoid 'pain', and is consistently reinforced. This can be observed in the way habitual addictive behaviour develops, and so learning processes can be considered as strong underlying factors of addiction and substance abuse. 
-Central consequences of addiction =  loss of habits that are necessary for personal and social realisation =  if for an addict, their only objective is to obtain the addictive substance to avoid the symptoms of withdrawal, any routine that does not have this objective will be useless —--have they lost or forgotten daily routines? 

-One of the principal problems of drug addicts during the initial and voluntary rehabilitation  process is the difficulty in acquiring daily basic routines  === takes months before drug addicts are able to have a natural and reasonable daily routine

- Hence, there is no consensus on the most effective method to aid addicts in their recovery, creating even a greater difficulty for addicts to choose the best way whereby they can break addictive habits, and formulate healthy daily routines.
Additional - Violent crimes and  addiction in prison populations 

-Substance use disorders are known to be associated with violent crimes 

Even in a prison environment, a structured situation, alcohol abuse and dependence is 18 - 30% in males and 10 -24% in females, drug abuse and dependence is 10-48% in males and 30-60% in females.

Sources 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.607866/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4147296/

 

A cross-sectional method was used for the study and consisted of 919 crack cocaine users, 783 being men and 136 being women, and face-to-face interviews were used.

Syphilis was tested for by the use of blood samples and the Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector also known as (CHAID) was used to explore the differences between the genders. 

Two models were implemented: the first model included previous incarceration and variables related to patterns of drug use, 

and the second model included variables related to sexual risky behaviours and syphilis exposure.

 

Results demonstrated that women consumed more crack cocaine than men on a regular basis; however, poly-drug use was more common among men. 

More women than men reported exchanging sex for money and/or drugs and inconsistent condom use during sexual intercourse.

Women also reported to have been with more sexual partners. 

Furthermore, surprisingly, the frequency of sexual violence was higher for women than men.

 A higher proportion of women than men tested positive for syphilis (27.2% vs. 9.2%) 

 The CHAID decision tree analysis identified seven variables that differentiated women from men: including past imprisonment, marijuana use, daily crack cocaine consumption, age, sexual violence, exchange of sex for money and drugs, and syphilis exposure.

In conclusion, the findings demonstrate a difference in patterns of crack cocaine consumption and sexual risky behaviours between both men and women, thus flagging up the clear biological differences and indicating a need for gender-specific interventions in this population.

 

 

In further research, female Injecting drug users have reported providing sex as an exchange for housing, sustenance, and protection. 

Studies in Taiwan, the US, Vietnam, China, and India have found that deprivation, low employment opportunities, a need to support the daily lives of both themselves and their partners, and fewer years of academic education than their males, make transactional sex a survival strategy for some female Injecting drug users.

However, while initial involvement in sex work may serve as a temporary means of supporting a drug habit and the means to survival, the psychological backlash resulting from involvement in sex work may actually result in increased drug use and an increased dependence on being provided for,

creating a cyclical effect. 

This contributes to the traditional, biological gender differences where for example testosterone, a sex hormone which men have more of than females, typically cause more behaviours such as aggression, competitiveness, visuospatial abilities, higher sexual drive etc. An area of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain called the sexually dimorphic nucleus is much larger in male than in females.

 

Sources used:

 

 

 

 

Research shows that when compared to controls with no alcohol abuse at all, people who are classed as alcoholics have a five times higher risk of being involved in violence. Reviews have also shown that not only this, but acute alcohol intoxication (consumption of a lot of alcohol over a short amount of time), plays a part in around fifty percent of all violent crimes and sexual assaults worldwide. 

The link between alcohol and aggression is very complex and it is difficult to fully understand the relationship between the two. One explanation is the Grahams disinhibition hypothesis (1980) which suggests that the consumption of alcohol affects the functioning of the brain- specifically the areas associated with inhibition and behaviour control. This leads on to say that alcohol encourages aggressive behaviour by impacting self-regulation, attention, information processing and decision making. It’s also true that when under the influence of alcohol, the focus on an individual’s attention becomes narrowed (alcohol myopia), and hostile attribution bias may occur when normal actions or accidents may be perceived as an attack, causing an unreasonable aggressive response from the intoxicated person. 

(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3820993/)   


ALCOHOL, ENVIRONMENT AND GENETICS:

Environmental factors also play a role in aggression. This can include a child’s upbringing, whether they have experienced harsh discipline, family aggression, lack of parental supervision, or exposure to violence and substance abuse- all of which have been identified as having an impact on the prevalence of violence in later life. 

Social learning theories look at reasons for why alcohol only increases levels of aggression in some individuals and not all. It is postulated that alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE’s) play a large role in this- stored memories and schemata that are activated upon consuming alcohol. Alcohol outcome expectancies vary between occasional drinkers and heavy drinkers/ alcoholics, with heavier drinkers associating intoxication with a positive arousing state, possibly what leads them to more displays of violent behaviour. AOE’s can be seen even in young children, indicating the importance of social learning experiences in early life such as learning vicariously from family members or from the media. 

Studies have been conducted to look into environmental influences on predisposition to alcohol-induced aggression. One study showed that rhesus monkeys who were exposed to stressful environments such as being isolated during childhood showed a long-term decrease in central serotonin metabolism (still shown throughout adulthood)- associated with aggression and excessive alcohol consumption. It has also been shown through other studies that animals who grew up without parents reacted more aggressively the more their serotonergic system had been changed. 

However, these changes weren’t shown in all rhesus monkeys affected by social isolation. It was only shown in those who had a specific genetic make-up in the serotonin transporter gene- only those with a shorter allele reacted to this social isolation with a reduced serotonin metabolism- which was what was associated with increased alcohol consumption and aggression. 

This emphasises the fact that both environment and genetics play a role in predisposition and likeliness to consume more alcohol and be more aggressive in later life. 

(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3820993/)

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135917890100057X#BIB10)


ALCOHOL, GENDER AND RELATIONSHIPS: 

There is also research that looks into the differences in alcohol related violence in men and women. Bond and Lader found that alcohol consumption increased aggression in in both males and females when lightly provoked. However, when provoked more intensely, alcohol only enhanced levels of aggression shown from males. 

Looking at cases of domestic violence, it has been found that there are high rates of alcohol problems in the male partners of female victims, and in relationships, alcoholic men committed violence against women significantly more often than those involving non-alcoholic men. 

 

(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3820993/) 

(https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S027273589700038X?token=5FD805E78C32DEDC4E76A46EEC4FC0DDB48EDB17183D722EA101B0DC001BDFBC2169C4D793C384EC7961BBA36F0F2413&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20220503131258)