Comorbidity of Substance Use and Violence

Abstract

This chapter examines comorbidity of substance use and predatory violence. First, we briefly discuss explanatory models, including the psychopharmacological, economic motivation, and systemic causal models, as well as common cause models. We then review the literature supporting an association between substance use and violence focusing on proximal and developmental associations of alcohol with violence and drugs with violence. Our review clearly supports a causal association of alcohol use and violence, although this association is moderated by individual and contextual factors. Providing targeted alcohol interventions to individuals with a proclivity to violence could reduce a large proportion of violent crimes. In contrast, besides violence associated with participation in illegal drug markets, there is no definitive evidence that most types of illicit drugs cause violent behavior. Thus, regulation of illegal drug markets may decrease economically-motivated and systematic drug-related violence. Nevertheless, many violent offenders use and are addicted to drugs. Therefore, substance use interventions for criminal offenders are clearly needed.