ABSTRACT
Th e study of the links between substance abuse and off ending and substance abuse and victimization has been underway for some years. Various research questions relating to this agenda have been explored, evidence brought forward, and recommendations for interventions, policy, and further research made. Still, many questions remain unanswered, and the complexity of the issues continues to be highlighted. Simplistic causal explanations are refuted, and more dynamic process-based accounts of the phenomenon have been proposed. Both topics are well researched, and reviews have been written on both issues. Th us far, however, they have been treated separately, with authors tackling either substance abuse in the off ender or substance abuse in
the victim. Th is chapter is novel in that it attempts to explain both phenomena using the same conceptual frameworks and adopting a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural perspective.* Th e question as to the association between drugs, alcohol, crime, and victimization is of more than mere academic relevance. Diff erent conceptualizations of the links infl uence society’s response to substance users and inform debates about drug legislation, crime prevention, drug and alcohol treatment, and law enforcement.
