ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the programme of studies on the relationship between drugs and crime carried out at the Centro de Ciencias do Comportamento Desviante of the University of Oporto, Portugal, between 1991 and 1996. It also presents the results of theoretical research on the models of scientific research and its application to the explanation of the drugs/crime connection. Three main levels of research were identified: macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic. The chapter shows the logic, the frame of reference, the method of the research programme, the results of the empirical research, and aim, the method and the results of each of the main studies. The structures, functions and meanings underlying drugs/crime deviant behaviour are rarely studied. The following variables were studied: central nervous system (CNS) activity, corporal sensations, emotions, cognitions, personality and existential meaning. There are several actors in the drugs world in deviant subcultures: dealers, occasional users, regular users and junkies.
