This article is an empirical examination of gender bias in the handling of seriously delinquent youths at three stages of the juvenile justice system: arrest, adjudication, and disposition. The sample included 391 Black and White 14- to 17-year-old youths (100 girls and 291 boys), all heavily involved in crime when they were interviewed on the street during the period 1985-1987 in Miami for a study of drug/crime relationships. The tests for gender bias used controls for pertinent factors identified in prior research: race, type of offense, and level of involvement (for arrests, number of crimes done; for adjudication, age at arrest; and for dispositions, number of prior adjudications). Results indicated a number of significant differences in male and female juvenile justice outcomes. Discussion of these findings emphasizes two offense-particular reasons for gender differences which are not generally discussed, evaluates the evidence of system gender bias for this sample, and traces the methodological implications of this study for future research.

Most existing research on the relationship between drug use and street crime relates to heroin users and thus predates the widespread availability of crack-cocaine; social science studies of crime among crack users are few in number and focus on a limited set of offense types. This article reports findings from interviews with 387 adult crack users in Miami, Florida, regarding their drug use and criminal histories and their current involvement in a broad range of criminal activities. Many significant differences are noted between the street and treatment subsamples, particularly an earlier drug and crime initiation and a more exclusive focus on one crime type — retail drug sales — among street respondents. Gender differences are markedly smaller, especially in the street sample. Comparisons are also made between the street sample and a similar sample of heroin users interviewed in Miami some ten years earlier.

As part of a larger study, 254 crime-involved youths in Miami were interviewed on the street about their drug use, crimes and – in more detail – experiences with crack-cocaine. In this strongly drug- and crime–involved sample, greater participation in the crack business was clearly associated with not only more crack use and more drug sales, but also more frequent use of other drugs and more crimes against property and persons. The criminogenic influence of the crack trade is discussed in relation to both media reports and the classic drugs/crime pattern first identified for heroin users.

Researchers at the University of Delaware have been conducting field studies of drug use and crime in Miami, Florida, since 1977. This paper reviews this research and its contributions to understanding drugs-crime relationships. Early studies tested mechanisms for accessing street populations of heroin users and assessing the nature and extent of their drug use and criminality. Subsequent studies targeted a variety of crime-involved heroin and cocaine users, including women as well as men, serious delinquents, adolescent and adult crack users, and cocaine users in treatment as well as on the street. Major findings include the low risk of arrest for income-generating crimes committed by heroin users, and the prevalence of HIV-risk behaviors among both serious delinquents and women crack users. Analyses consistently show the critical importance of sample characteristics in research on drug use, including age, cohort, and street-versus-treatment status.

There is mounting evidence that HIV infection among adolescents is increasing, particularly among minorities and inner‐city youths involved in certain high‐risk activities, such as multiple sex partners and intravenous drug use. Interviews conducted “on the street” with 611 seriously delinquent male and female adolescents (ages 12–17) included questions about their involvement in prostitution, intravenous drug use, and sex‐for‐crack exchanges. Findings included high percentages of youths engaged in these HIV‐risk activities and a consistent association between all of them and greater illicit drug use. This would suggest that these risk behaviors may be surprisingly prevalent among some inner‐city adolescent groups. Special AIDS prevention/intervention targeting these groups is warranted and urgently needed. Drug treatment should be a central focus of such programs.