International Journal of Drug Policy 16 (2005) 393–402 Problem drug users and assault Joanne Neale a , Michael Bloor b,* , Christopher Weir c a School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University, Jack Straws Lane, Marston, Oxford OX3 0FL, UK b Centre for Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow, 89 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6PW, UK c Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, Boyd Orr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK Received 16 June 2005; received in revised form 26 October 2005; accepted 28 October 2005 Abstract Cross-sectional data collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study are presented on 560 drug users (the great majority of them heroin users) beginning treatment in a range of drug services across Scotland. Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with reports of recently committing assault and with reports of recently being assaulted. Nearly one in five respondents (18%) had committed assault in the last 3 months and 25% had been assaulted in the last 6 months (8% had both committed assault and been an assault victim). Four of the five factors that were independently associated with committing a recent assault were also independently associated with being a victim of recent assault, namely being male; use of crack in the last 90 days; having slept rough or in a hostel in the last 6 months; and having been physically abused. Additionally, selling or supplying drugs was independently associated with committing a recent assault, and not having used heroin in the last 90 days was independently associated with having been recently assaulted. The findings suggest that drug treatment providers have roles to play in addressing the violent tendencies of, and high levels of victimisation experienced by, their clients. However, this will require drug agency staff to work collaboratively with other professional groups to offer flexible forms of support that address clients’ multiple needs. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Drug use; Assault; Drug treatment; Violence; Victims Introduction The use of drugs is widely associated with violent and aggressive behaviour. Alcohol and illicit substances are fre- quently present in both offenders and victims involved in vio- lent incidents (Boles & Miotto, 2003). Equally, individuals in substance abuse treatment report significantly higher rates of both expressed and received violence than community- based samples (Brown, Werk, Caplan, Shields, & Seraganian, 1998; Chermack, Fuller, & Blow, 2000; Walton, Chermack, & Blow, 2002). In communities, street dealing is regularly accompanied by disruptive behaviour, threats to local resi- dents, home break-ins and robberies. These can heighten fear amongst residents, which in turn triggers a downward spi- ral of crime, fear of crime and neighbourhood deterioration * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: jneale@brookes.ac.uk (J. Neale), m.bloor@socsci.gla.ac.uk (M. Bloor), c.weir@stats.gla.ac.uk (C. Weir). (Davis & Lurigio, 1996; Skogan, 1990; Wilson & Kelling, 1982). Even amongst school children, there is evidence of increased propensity to violence when drugs have been used. For example, a Scottish study of 3121 students aged 11–16 found that both males and females who had taken drugs were more likely to carry weapons (63.5% of male drug users ver- sus 20.5% of non-users and 22.8% of female drug users versus 3.7% of non-users) (McKeganey & Norrie, 2000). Despite these repeated associations, the relationship between substance use and violence is complex and con- tested. Paul Goldstein (1985) has argued that drugs and vio- lence can be related to each other in three particular ways: psychopharmacologically, economic-compulsively and sys- temically. According to Goldstein, psychopharmacological violence occurs because the chemical properties of illegal drugs induce aggressive behaviour. So, drug ingestion can cause individuals to become excitable, irrational and/or para- noid. Individuals may also become violent because of the irritability and desperation associated with drug withdrawal 0955-3959/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2005.10.001