Theories on the causal relationship between drug use and crime in Australian literature have often overlooked the influence of gender as a confounding variable while research indicates that pathways into drug use and crime differ for males and females. Using data from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program, this report examines the direct relationship, mediated by gender, between mental health, prior experiences of child abuse, drug use and offending among a sample of police detainees.

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