Inhalant abuse and juvenile delinquency: a control study in Albuquerque, New Mexico

This paper examines the relationship between inhalant abuse and delinquency among juveniles in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The arrest records of 100 juvenile delinquents identified as chronic inhalant abusers are compared with two control groups (N = 100 each) of other delinquents from Albuquerque. One control group was stratified on age, sex, and ethnicity, and the other was a simple random sample. The demographic characteristics of inhalant abusers indicated an overrepresentation of young, male Hispanics from large, poor, disrupted families where siblings were involved in both the abuse of inhalants and a variety of other delinquent activities. The inhalant abusers were much more likely to be arrested for virtually every type and category of delinquent activity. Specifically, inhalant abusers are considerably more criminal regarding total offenses committed, status offenses, crimes against property, crimes against persons, and criminal and violent offenses. Therefore, this study has indicated a strong relationship between inhalant abuse and juvenile delinquency.