Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Level 1, Alphington, Victoria, Australia.
Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Melbourne, Australia.
PLoS One. 2020 May 29;15(5):e0229389. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229389. eCollection 2020.
Links between crystalline methamphetamine (CM) use and criminal offending are often drawn in the media; however, there has been little scientific research into this relationship. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence and correlates of lifetime CM use among a sample of young people in detention in Australia and to examine whether an association exists between lifetime CM use and recidivism in this population.The sample included 202 young people (164 males) in youth detention in the state of Victoria, Australia. Participants were administered questionnaires related to lifetime substance use and socio-environmental experiences. Lifetime mental health data and offending data were obtained for each participant from public mental health and policing databases. More than one third (38%) of the sample reported lifetime CM use. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, older age, male gender, polysubstance use, and high levels of community disorganisation were associated with CM use. The presence of a psychiatric diagnosis over the lifetime was not significantly associated with CM use. CM use was also not significantly associated with violent recidivism. Efforts to address CM use and related harm in detained youth should include community-based strategies to reduce CM use among this vulnerable population following their release from detention. However, the findings suggest that CM use on its own is unlikely to be an important consideration for professionals concerned with determining which young people should be selected for treatment designed to reduce the risk of violent recidivism.
在媒体中，经常将结晶甲基苯丙胺（CM）的使用与犯罪行为联系起来；然而，对于这种关系的科学研究却很少。本研究的目的是确定在澳大利亚被拘留的年轻人样本中终生 CM 使用的流行率和相关因素，并检验在该人群中终生 CM 使用与累犯之间是否存在关联。
该样本包括澳大利亚维多利亚州青年拘留所的 202 名年轻人（164 名男性）。参与者接受了与终生药物使用和社会环境经历有关的问卷。从公共心理健康和警察数据库中为每位参与者获取了终生心理健康数据和犯罪数据。超过三分之一（38%）的样本报告了终生 CM 使用。在多变量逻辑回归分析中，年龄较大、男性、多药物使用和社区组织混乱程度较高与 CM 使用有关。终生存在精神科诊断与 CM 使用无显著相关性。CM 使用与暴力累犯也无显著相关性。在被拘留的年轻人中，解决 CM 使用和相关危害的工作应包括基于社区的策略，以减少他们从拘留中释放后 CM 使用。然而，这些发现表明，对于关注确定哪些年轻人应选择接受旨在降低暴力累犯风险的治疗的专业人员来说，CM 使用本身不太可能是一个重要因素。
