Trayectoria criminal, personalidad y consumo de drogas en mujeres chilenas

The greater participation of women in the commission of crimes, especially violent ones, has promoted the necessity to increase researches destine to understand this type of crime. The objective of this research is to know the relationship that exists between the consumption of alcohol and drugs, certain dimensions of the criminal trajectory and its relationship with personality traits, in a group of 412 women held in Chilean prisons. The research is non-experimental, ex-post-facto and pseudo-prospective. The results show a prevalence of alcohol consumption of 24.8% and 47.3% for drugs. The consumption of alcohol and drugs, and the problems derived from consumption, significantly increase the risk of early initiation in crime, high recidivism and participation in violent crimes. The personality facets adequately predict the time that women continue to consume drugs and alcohol, the age of onset of drug use, the length of the criminal career and the age of the first crime. The existence of individual differences that increase the risk of addictions and of certain dimensions of a criminal trajectory, make possible the adoption of early interventions, adapted to the particular needs of these women.