Publication
Revisiting Goldstein’s Drugs‑Violence Nexus: Expandingthe Framework for the Globalised Era
In this article, Marieke Liem and Kim Moeller revisit Goldstein’s framework on the drugs-violence nexus. They expand it to account for the impact of globalisation, synthetic drugs, and online drug transactions on drug-related violence.
- Author
- Marieke Liem & Kim Moeller
- Date
- 04 March 2025
- Links
- Read the full article here
The authors argue that the rise of synthetic drugs and online drug markets necessitate a refinement of Goldstein's tripartite framework (psychopharmacological, economic-compulsive, and systemic) to better capture the nuances of drug-related violence in Europe and other regions. They propose a more fine-grained classification that considers the context of violence across different stages of the drug route, as well as access- and consumption-related events at the individual level.
The research suggests that drug-related violence is influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including psychological conditions, cultural contexts, and social environments. The authors also highlight the role of community disorganisation and instability in illicit drug markets as drivers of violence. They emphasise that the strength and characteristics of the relationship between drug markets and violent crime depend on social context, cultural factors, places and time.