Illegal Drug Use as Crime: Freud vs. Wilson & Herrnstein
This paper examines illegal drug use as a criminal act through two contrasting theoretical lenses. It opens with a brief history of criminology and its three major schools — classical, positive, and Chicago — before applying Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytical Theory and James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein's Constitutional-Learning Theory to the specific crime of illegal drug use. The analysis compares both frameworks, weighing their explanatory power, and concludes that Wilson and Herrnstein's weighted gains-and-losses model provides the stronger fit. The paper closes by considering how the preferred theory might inform crime-control policy surrounding illegal drug use.
- Introduction: Defines crime and introduces both theories
- Illegal Drug Use as a Crime: Scope and statistics of drug-related crime
- Criminological Theories and History: Classical, positive, and Chicago school overviews
- Freud's Psychoanalytical Theory Applied: Impulse and antisocial behavior as drug-use drivers
- Wilson and Herrnstein's Constitutional-Learning Theory Applied: Weighted gains and losses explaining drug choices
- Analysis: Comparing the Two Theories: Wilson and Herrnstein's theory declared stronger fit
- Conclusion: All three theories apply; rational choice wins
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper clearly frames its argument upfront, naming both theories and signaling which will prevail, giving readers an immediate roadmap.
- It grounds the theoretical discussion in concrete, quantitative data (FBI Uniform Crime Report arrest figures) before introducing the frameworks, lending empirical weight to the analysis.
- The comparative structure — applying each theory in turn, then directly weighing them against each other — makes the analytical logic easy to follow.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates theory application: taking established criminological frameworks and testing their explanatory fit against a specific crime type. Rather than describing theories in the abstract, the author evaluates each theory's core premises (impulse vs. rational choice) against the documented behaviors associated with illegal drug use, then renders a reasoned judgment about which framework better accounts for the evidence.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a classic five-part research structure: (1) introduction and definition of the crime; (2) empirical scope of the problem with statistical data; (3) historical background on criminological theory; (4) application of each theory in dedicated sections; and (5) comparative analysis leading to a policy-oriented conclusion. This architecture keeps description separate from application and application separate from evaluation, which is a sound organizational strategy for theory-comparison essays.
Introduction
Society's fascination with crime has long captivated people of all ages — look at how audiences flock to movie theaters to watch their favorite superheroes or protagonists fight off villains to save society. This fascination has helped create a multi-billion dollar industry in comics, movies, and television shows. Everyone enjoys watching Batman or Spider-Man come to the rescue and stop the wrongdoers of society. Yet the appeal of the hero figure carries with it an implicit acknowledgment that criminals genuinely exist in modern society.
To better understand what constitutes a criminal act, the definition of crime must first be explored. According to TheFreeDictionary.com, crime is "an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it for which punishment is imposed upon conviction" — or, in simpler terms, an act in which a person knowingly or unknowingly breaks the law (2011, p. 1). Criminal acts or acts of delinquency can include excessive use of police force or brutality, mass murder, police corruption, homicide, shoplifting, computer hacking, burglary, theft, robbery, fraud, drug trafficking, violence, terrorism, gambling, arson, embezzlement, prostitution, assault, and many more.
The criminal act of illegal drug use will be analyzed through a brief history of criminology and its theories, a detailed description and application of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytical Theory, and a description and application of the non-psychological Constitutional-Learning Theory of James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein. An analysis is then provided describing which of the two theories more effectively explains the crime of illegal drug use, along with a discussion of the implications of that theory for crime-control policy.
Illegal Drug Use as a Crime
Illegal drug use and its consequences threaten citizens from every socioeconomic background, geographic region, educational level, and ethnic group. It has been estimated that more than 12 million Americans over the age of 12 use illegal drugs on a regular basis (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1995). More than one-third of all Americans have experimented with an illicit drug, and another one-third has admitted to using cocaine or another prescription drug for non-medical purposes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1995).
Many people believe that illegal drug use is not their individual problem, but when surveyed, a majority of respondents stated that drug use and drug-related crimes are among the worst social issues facing the world (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009). Areas where illegal drug markets flourish are consistently plagued by high crime rates and violent behavior.
Drugs relate to crime and criminal behavior in a variety of ways. Laws dictate that it is a criminal act to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "drugs are related to crime through the effects they have on the user's behavior and by generating violence and other illegal activities" (2009, p. 1). Illegal drug use has contributed to a rise in crime over the last 40 years; drug-related arrests increased substantially between 1970 and 2007 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009).
In 2009, there were nearly 14 million arrests made in the United States, and approximately 1.6 million of them — nearly 12% — were for drug-related offenses, ranking third behind property crimes and assaults. The table below, sourced from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), illustrates the full breakdown of arrests for that year.
Estimated Number of Arrests — United States, 2009 (Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports)
Total Number of Arrests: 13,687,241 | Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: 12,418 | Forcible rape: 21,407 | Robbery: 126,725 | Aggravated assault: 421,215 | Burglary: 299,351 | Larceny-theft: 1,334,933 | Motor vehicle theft: 81,797 | Arson: 12,204 | Violent crime: 581,765 | Property crime: 1,728,285 | Other assaults: 1,319,458 | Forgery and counterfeiting: 85,844 | Fraud: 210,255 | Embezzlement: 17,920 | Stolen property (buying, receiving, possessing): 105,303 | Vandalism: 270,439 | Weapons (carrying, possessing, etc.): 166,334 | Prostitution and commercialized vice: 71,355 | Sex offenses: 77,326 | Drug abuse violations: 1,663,582 | Gambling: 10,360 | Offenses against the family and children: 114,564 | Driving under the influence: 1,440,409 | Liquor laws: 570,333 | Drunkenness: 594,300 | Disorderly conduct: 655,322
References
Bureau of Justice Statistics — Drug use and crime. (2009, October). Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=352
Crime. (2011, June). Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crime
Freud, S. (1961). The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 19). London: Hogarth.
Lerner, L., Lerner, B. L., & Cengage, G. (2006). Criminology. World of Forensic Science. Retrieved from
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (1996). Preliminary Estimates from the 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Wilson, J. Q., & Herrnstein, R. (1985). Crime and Human Nature. New York: Simon and Schuster.
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