The British Journal of Psychiatry 130: 272-278 (1977)
© 1977 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Hostility, crime and drug dependence
M Gossop and A Roy
In a study of male addicts attending a London drug dependence unit, it was
found that convicted addicts tended to score more highly on measures of
hostility than non-convicted subjects. The differences in hostility between
the convicted and non-convicted groups were most clearly seen on the
violent crimes variable, although addicts convicted of drug-possession and
of non-drug crimes were also more hostile than non-convicted subjects. It
is suggested that hostility acts as a personality factor which predisposes
the individual towards criminal behaviour, and that the more hostile
subjects may also be more likely to be apprehended and convicted.