Correlates of Illicit Drug Use Among Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A Test of Social Support Theory
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Author | Liqun Cao,Velmer S. Burton,Liu Liu |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X18758853 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2018
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Correlates of Illicit Drug Use
Comparative Criminology
2018, Vol. 62(14) 4510 –4527
Among Indigenous Peoples
© The Author(s) 2018
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in Canada: A Test of Social
https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X18758853
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X18758853
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Support Theory
Liqun Cao1, Velmer S. Burton Jr.2, and Liu Liu3
Abstract
Relying on a national stratified random sample of Indigenous peoples aged 19 years
old and above in Canada, this study investigates the correlates of illicit drug use
among Indigenous peoples, paying special attention to the association between social
support measures and illegal drug use. Results from multivariate logistical regression
show that measures of social support, such as residential mobility, strength of ties
within communities, and lack of timely counseling, are statistically significant correlates
of illicit drug use. Those identifying as Christian are significantly less likely to use
illegal drugs. This is the first nationwide analysis of the illicit drug usage of Indigenous
peoples in Canada. The results are robust because we have controlled for a range
of comorbidity variables as well as a series of sociodemographic variables. Policy
implications from these findings are discussed.
Keywords
Indigenous peoples, illicit drug use, religion, social support theory, residential schooling
Illicit drug use has long plagued Indigenous populations in Canada (Allan & Smylie,
2015; C. L. Currie, Wild, Schopflocher, Laing, & Veugelers, 2013; Phillips et al.,
2014) and, recently, was declared to be the No. 1 problem among Quebec’s Aboriginal
peoples (Clibbon, 2012). It adds to the suffering of Aboriginal peoples living at the
bottom of Canadian society within and/or off reserves.
1University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada
2University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Little Rock, USA
3Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Corresponding Author:
Liqun Cao, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 55 Bond St. E., Oshawa, Ontario,
Canada L1G 0A5.
Email: Liqun.Cao@uoit.ca
Cao et al.
4511
Although periodic surveys of Indigenous peoples’ substance use have been conducted
since 1991, a thorough analysis of these data are lacking in the scholarly literature.
Consequently, the empirical knowledge and understanding of illegal drug uses among
Indigenous peoples remain limited. Thus, we propose a model of illicit drug use for
Indigenous peoples and test the association of social support measures with illicit drug
use among Indigenous peoples. Our approach makes a contribution to the extant literature
in several ways. First, we utilize the national data from “Aboriginal Peoples Survey 2012”
(Budinski & Langlet, 2015). Although several previous investigations of drug use exist
(C. L. Currie et al., 2013; Elton-Marshall, Leatherdale, & Burkhalter, 2011; Ford, 2005;
Frederick, Kirst, & Erickson, 2012; Rawana & Ames, 2012; Ross, Dion, Cantinotti,
Collin-Vezina, & Paquette, 2015), the need remains for a national-level quantitative anal-
ysis of Aboriginal peoples’ illicit drug use. Second, the proposed model is theory-driven,
utilizing measures derived from social support theory. Finally, the proposed model is
comprehensive. We build on the extant literature by exploring direct association effects of
social support on illegal drug use, while controlling for the effects of the comorbidity
model of drug use with a series of social-demographic variables in our analyses.
Explaining Illegal Drug Use Among Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples in Canada (or Aboriginal Canadians) are the native peoples within
the boundaries of present-day Canada. According to data from the National Household
Survey (Statistics Canada, 2016), Indigenous peoples in Canada totaled 1,400,685
(4.3% of the national population) and are spread across 600 recognized First Nations
governments or bands with distinctive cultures, languages, art, and music. Currently,
this population comprises the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
The current mainstream population of Canada has displaced Indigenous peoples
over time (Allan & Smylie, 2015; Comack, 2012; Monchalin, 2016; Razack, 2015).
As the White settler society advanced, Indigenous peoples were displaced, died, and/
or “disappeared” in large numbers. Several factors hastening the pace of displacement
of Indigenous peoples exit. For example, the attempt at Christianization of Aboriginal
peoples of Canada had been ongoing since the first missionaries arrived in the 1600s
and became more systematic with the passage of the Indian Act in 1876. The conse-
quences of resistance to Christianization, under the Indian Act of 1876, were sanctions
for not converting. Corresponding laws were implemented to prevent non-Christian
Aboriginal people from testifying or having their cases heard in court. To strengthen
the governmental controls, Aboriginal reserves were established. The creation of
reserves carried additional restrictive laws for Indigenous peoples, such as the eligibil-
ity to vote in band elections, decreased hunting and fishing rights, and constraints
placed on Aboriginal peoples’ right to visit other groups on their residential reserves.
One of the most controversial government strategies of assimilation, made possible
by the Indian Act of 1876, was the creation and implementation of the residential
school system. From 1847 until 1996, the Canadian government (in partnership with
the Catholic Church) operated 130 residential boarding schools across Canada for
Indigenous children, who were forcibly taken from their homes. Although the stated
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International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 62(14)
purpose of these residential schools was to educate, these schools were often plagued
by underfunding, disease, and abuse (Charles & DeGane, 2013; Monchalin, 2016).
Despite the past, colonialism today “has not disappeared but has taken on new forms”
(Comack, 2012, p. 24). Indigenous peoples, for example, continue to live as an underclass
within cities and as marginalized groups within the reserves. Most glaring is that Aboriginal
peoples’ income lags significantly behind others (Pendakur & Pendakur, 2011). More than
80% of Aboriginal adults said that they had experienced racial discrimination in the past
year (C. T. Currie, Wild, Schopflocher, & Laing, 2015). Even on Canadian college and
university campuses, Indigenous university students reported more frequent racism across
a greater number of life situations than other racial and ethnic groups (C. L. Currie et al.,
2013). In terms of basic medical treatment in emergency rooms, Indigenous peoples are
less likely to receive postfracture care versus others (Leslie et al., 2012) and it is docu-
mented that they suffer from highly elevated overdose death rates and levels of premature
mortality in British Columbia compared with the general population (Milloy et al., 2010).
Not surprising, their life expectancy is significantly shorter than the overall Canadian pop-
ulation (MacMillan, MacMillan, Offord, & Dingle, 1996).
In addition, evidence exists illustrating Indigenous peoples’ plight and secondary
status, particularly with regard to their involvement in the criminal justice system.
Most notably, Aboriginal peoples are disproportionately incarcerated at a much greater
rate than the general Canadian population (Fitzgerald & Carrington, 2008) and their
confidence in the police is significantly lower when compared with the opinions of
other Canadians (Cao, 2014). Similarly, they were more likely than non-Aboriginal
people to report being victimized (Perreault, 2011). Aboriginal identity is a strong
independent predictor of being a victim of violent crime (Brzozowski & Mihorean,
2002). Their average homicide rate was 8.8 per 100,000, almost 7 times higher than
that for non-Aboriginal counterparts (Brzozowski, Taylor-Butts, & Johnson, 2006).
Their deaths, moreover, are not treated equally as all other Canadians, according to
Razack (2015), and their bodies are “turned into debris, a transformation that is accom-
plished by viewing the Indigenous body as sick, dysfunctional, and self-destructive”
(p. 17). Aboriginal people have even died in the hands of the police over what came to
be referred to as “Starlight Tours”1 (Comack, 2012).
It is from this historical and contemporary social context of realities and conditions
that Indigenous peoples of Canada have (and continue) to endure that our study seeks
to better understand the factors associated with their illegal drug use. We contend that
social support theory can help explain illicit drug use among Indigenous peoples. Our
proposed model relies upon, and extends, the general principles of social support the-
ory and explores correlates of illegal drug use among Indigenous peoples. We test two
complementary models of illicit drug use: a social support model and a comorbidity
model with a series of sociodemographic control variables.
Theoretical Principles
According to Durkheim (1897/1951, 1954), social solidarity is the most important
glue in holding us together in society. Social solidarity is maintained by two distinct
Cao et al.
4513
sets of social functions: those involving integration (religion) and those...
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