ABSTRACT
This chapter determines how crucial the theoretical explanations are in accounting for levels of criminality among young-adult heroin users. Further, because it is expected that the conditions surrounding the initiation and maintenance of drug lifestyles may differ by race, the impact of these theories on levels of criminality are considered separately for blacks and whites. Social disorganization theorists assume that motivation to commit crime is constant, that everyone would commit crime if given a chance. Social bond theorists have begun with some of the same assumptions but have approached the problem in slightly different fashion. Unlike the social bond theorists, the social learning and differential association theorists allow for possibility that deviance may be socially rewarding. Racial differences are also expected with neutralization theory, with differential association and social learning predictors better accounting for variations in black crime rates. To restrict analysis to only those crimes that allow for support of the habit.
