DUI Offenses Research Articles

Postintervention reoffense in DUI repeat offenders receiving alcohol treatment as a diversion intervention: A 2-year follow-up study

PurposeAlcohol use problems are prevalent among recidivists of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). This 2-year postintervention follow-up study explored the preventive effects of 12- or 6-month alcohol treatment in relation to reoffense among repeat DUI offenders who participated in a community-based joint legal–medical intervention program. MethodsA total of 259 repeat DUI offenders with alcohol use problems were referred from a Prosecutors’ Office to a psychiatric hospital to receive alcohol treatment. We divided these participants into two groups on the basis of treatment duration (6- and 12-month groups) and collected their official DUI offense records for 2 years after the intervention. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the hazard ratio of each treatment duration in relation to reoffense. The reoffense rates were compared with a group of DUI offenders (n = 4097) who did not participate in the intervention program (i.e., a nonintervention group). ResultsThe baseline characteristics were similar between the two treatment groups. The 2-year reoffense rates for the 12-month treatment, 6-month treatment, and nonintervention groups were 12%, 19%, and 21%, respectively. The hazard ratio for reoffense was lower for the 12-month group than for the 6-month group (hazard ratio: 0.45; 95% confidence interval: 0.21–0.96). Survival analysis revealed that compared with the non-intervention group, reoffense was significantly reduced in the 12-month group but not in the 6-month group. ConclusionThe 12-month joint legal–medical intervention program for alcohol treatment yielded superior outcomes to the corresponding 6-month program in terms of preventing DUI reoffense for 2 years postintervention. This research is, however, subject to the limitation that we lacked the information of factors that might affect the reoffense risk, such as motivation level, readiness to change, personality traits, and familial support.

Are state minimum jail laws associated with less frequent drunk-driving?

Objectives The current study investigated associations between minimum jail sentences included in state DUI laws and self-reported drunk-driving in the US. Scant existing research has been conducted on this topic. The current study is the first to use Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to investigate associations between minimum jail sentences and frequency of self-reported drunk-driving among adults who report drunk-driving. Methods 2020 BRFSS data were used. Analyses were limited to participants aged 18 years and older who reported at least one episode of drunk-driving during the past 30-days. Participants missing data on age, gender, race, income, binge-drinking, or state of residence were excluded from analyses. The final sample size was 3,732. Websites from official state legislatures and/or data from state motor vehicle departments were used to gather current information on DUI minimum jail penalties. A dichotomous variable was created that categorized all 50 states and Washington D.C. as either (i) having a minimum jail sentence for first time DUI offense or (ii) having no minimum jail sentence for first time DUI offense. Multivariable negative binomial regression analyses were conducted using SAS® v9.4. The dependent variable was the number of self-reported drunk-driving episodes. Results Among the sample of adults who reported drunk-driving, residents of states with no minimum jail sentence for a first-time DUI offense had a 32% higher incidence rate of drunk-driving episodes [RR = 1.32,95% CI:0.98–1.77] compared to their counterparts residing in states with a minimum jail sentence for first time DUI offenses. Similar findings were observed in multiple sensitivity analyses conducted. Conclusion There was a marginally significant [p = 0.07] higher incidence rate of drunk-driving episodes among residents of states with no minimum jail sentence compared to those in states with a minimum jail sentence for the first time DUI. This was the first study to use BRFSS 2020 data to investigate this association and only among participants who self-reported drunk-driving. We therefore provide an important contribution to the literature on this association by using the most up to date data and among a valid sample of drunk drivers. Further studies that provide stronger causal inference are needed.

Evaluating 24/7 Sobriety Program participant reoffense risk

Objective: Our study investigated risk factors in survival among a subpopulation of drivers in North Dakota’s 24/7 Sobriety Program. Participants mandated for a second driving-under-the-influence of alcohol (DUI) arrest were studied for a three-year interval that commenced with the start date for a 360-day enrollment. Method: A Stratified Cox regression model was developed to compute the hazard ratios for survival. A subsequent DUI-related offense as event of interest. Relation to the explanatory variable array that could be construed from administrative records were investigated. Results: Older drivers were 6.31 times more likely to reoffend than the younger driver cohort of 18–35-years. The survival curve slope showed the fastest decline in the 361-day to 730-day interval. Neither gender nor residence region was a significant predictor in DUI reoffense over the three-year monitoring interval. Preliminary work suggests reoffense was more likely if an individual had program history prior to this court mandated 360-day term in the 24/7 Sobriety Program for a second DUI. The program experience finding was unexpected but could not be studied in greater detail due to data and resource limitations. Conclusions: Administrative records access created a novel opportunity to explore an evolving impaired driving prevention strategy that has shown early promise. Individual driver survival in and after the 24/7 Sobriety Program was studied for three-years. Findings show age, post-program time interval, and possibly program history as areas to explore to improve survival rates. Driver DUI offense were most common shortly after program completion. Although limited to a single state, findings increase knowledge for refining strategies designed to impact driver subpopulations at higher risk for reoffense.

Legal Issues: The Right to Be Forgotten

There’s quite a bit of information available about quite a number of people and inevitably, some of those pieces of information include that which the subject would like to see forgotten. Whether it’s a news article about a past DUI or misdemeanor offense, a financial embarrassment like a foreclosure, a social media posting that is later regretted, or a piece of a person’s past that is no longer relevant in the present, the ubiquity and pervasiveness of the Internet and its search engines makes forgetting information very challenging, if not impossible. As the world’s largest search engine, Google is in the middle of a global battle over what some term as “the right to be forgotten” (RtbF). RtbF is a right, protected by law, to have certain information about a particular person to be removed either from the Internet completely, or to be removed as a link that would show up in response to a search. The center of the RtbF movement is in the European Union (EU), where some level of RtbF right has been recognized for the last two years, and a recent order from the French data protection agency has ordered Google to expand RtbF protection for French citizens to a worldwide level.

Diversion of Veterans With Criminal Justice Involvement to Treatment Courts: Participant Characteristics and Outcomes.

This study compared characteristics and outcomes between veterans who participated in veterans treatment courts (VTCs) and veterans involved in criminal justice who participated in other treatment courts (TCs) or who participated in neither VTCs or TCs. Data from 22,708 veterans (N=8,083 VTC participants, 680 participants in other TCs [other-TC participants], and 13,945 participants in neither VTCs nor TCs [non-TC participants]) in the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program were analyzed by using multilevel regression models. VTC participants were more likely than other VJO participants to have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, but there were no sociodemographic disparities in access to VTCs. VTC participants were more likely than non-TC participants to have drug or public-order offenses, and they were more likely than other-TC participants to have DUI offenses. VTC participants had better independent housing outcomes than other VJO participants, and they had better employment outcomes than non-TC participants. However, VTC and other-TC participants were also more likely to have jail sanctions and new incarcerations compared with non-TC participants. VTCs are a growing service model that serves a broad group of veterans with a range of criminal offenses. Although VTCs show moderate benefits in housing and employment, specialized services are needed to reduce recidivism and maximize these benefits.

Decreased re-conviction rates of DUI offenders with intensive supervision and home confinement

ABSTRACTBackground: In some jurisdictions, persons who are convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are allowed to serve some portion of their prison sentence under home confinement as part of Intensive Supervision Programs (ISPs) which include pre-release psycho-education and close post-release supervision. Objectives: Test the hypothesis that persons convicted of DUI offenses who have spent some portion of their sentence under home confinement, as compared to a historical comparison group, will exhibit a relatively low re-conviction rate. Methods: Using administrative data for 1,410 repeat DUI offenders (302 members of the historical comparison group, 948 ISP members, and 160 persons who appear in both groups at different points in time), with a follow-up period of up to 3 years and 10 months, a marginal Cox model was employed to compare conviction rates of persons who experienced intensive supervision and home confinement with historical comparison group members. Results: Persons with ISP + home confinement experience a re-conviction rate that is less than half that observed in the comparison group. Age, ethnicity (white vs. non-white), and gender are also significant predictors of re-conviction. Conclusion: Home confinement, in conjunction with psycho-education and other program elements, is one means of reducing the costs of incarceration. The results of this study suggest that, in addition to cost savings, states may realize a public safety benefit in the form of a reduction in DUI offense rates.

A Prospective Study of Psychiatric Comorbidity and Recidivism Among Repeat DUI Offenders.

Psychiatric comorbidity has emerged as a key element distinguishing DUI offenders from others, and, in some cases, distinguishing repeat offenders from first-time offenders. This paper utilizes a prospective design to determine whether the comorbid disorders identified among repeat DUI offenders can predict recidivism. Seven hundred forty-three repeat DUI offenders were recruited from a two-week inpatient treatment program at which they received a standardized mental health assessment and followed across five years post-treatment to track DUI offense, motor vehicle-related offenses, and general criminal offenses. Psychiatric comorbidity, though it did not predict DUI recidivism specifically, predicted criminal re-offense more generally. In addition, there was a specific relationship between lifetime attention deficit disorder and repeated motor vehicle-related offenses. These findings suggest that for many repeat offenders, DUI is one outlet in a constellation of criminal behavior, and that psychiatric comorbidity increases vulnerability for criminal re-offense.

DUI Offenses May Signal Untreated Bipolar

DUI Offenses May Signal Untreated Bipolar

Does the Impact of Anti-Drinking and Driving Public Service Announcements Differ Based on Message Type and Viewer Characteristics?

The purpose of this study was to inform future Public Service Announcement (PSA) development by examining the potential effectiveness of different types of anti-driving under the influence (DUI) PSAs for persons with different characteristics. PSAs utilizing empathy, fear, and informational approaches were shown to persons recruited from psychology courses (n = 137) and individuals that were mandated to treatment following a DUI offense (n = 17). The empathy approach was perceived to be the most effective and evoked the most negative affect, followed by fear and informational approaches. Less experience with DUI, lower sensation seeking, higher motivation to change, and higher perception of dangerousness of DUI all emerged as good predictors of higher perceived effectiveness of anti-DUI PSAs. Gender differences in perceived effectiveness were examined for fear and empathy PSAs, with inconclusive findings.

Criminality and continued DUI offense: criminal typologies and recidivism among repeat offenders

We examined over 20,000 arraignment records to define criminal typologies and post-treatment driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) convictions for a select cohort of 1,281 repeat DUI offenders who were offered and elected treatment as an alternative to incarceration; we compared this information with a similar data analysis collected 20 years previously. Analyses of 8,600 prior-to-treatment convictions defined four basic crime profiles: only DUI and other substance-related offenses (60%), plus crimes against property (18%), plus crimes against people (8%), plus crimes against both property and people (13%). During the six years after inpatient treatment, 15.5% of the cohort was convicted of another DUI. The reoffense rate was significantly different across criminal types and was not related to the time post treatment years at risk. The findings show there has been no significant improvement in treatment outcome over the last 20 years. New and innovative DUI offender policies and practices are needed to better engage the heterogeneous offender population, and reduce the incidence of repeat DUI.

Characteristics of DUI recidivists: A 12-year follow-up study of first time DUI offenders

77 individuals convicted of a drinking and driving (DUI) offense were screened for recidivism approximately 12 years following their first offense. At the time of the initial DUI conviction, participants were administered the MAST and the MMPI-2. Participants' drinking history and driving history and arrest at the time of screening and at a 12-year follow-up were also reviewed. The results indicate that, among DUI recidivists, on average 6 years elapsed between their first and second DUI offenses. Driving history prior to the first DUI offense was predictive of later recidivism. The only significant finding from the MAST and MMPI results was that repeat offenders tended to have higher scores on the L and K validity scales of the MMPI. These results are discussed in the context of Jessor's Problem-Behavior Theory and as well their clinical implications for screening and treatment decisions involving first time DUI offenders.

Patient Management ExerciseforPsychotherapy

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DUI recidivism: A comparison of Mexican Americans and whites in a northern California county

Objective: While Hispanic offenders for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in California are more likely to have a history of multiple offenses compared to whites, little is known about characteristics associated with DUI recidivism in either ethnic group. Demographic and DUI conviction characteristics associated with DUI recidivism are analyzed among Mexican American and white DUI offenders in a Northern California county. Method: A sample of 459 primarily Mexican Americans and 490 whites were randomly selected from records supplied by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on over 16,000 DUI offenders in the county during a 3-year period. DMV data on DUI convictions in the 1- and 5-year period preceding the identifying DUI offense and the year following the identifying offense (the recidivism conviction) were analyzed. Results: Rates of recidivism were significantly lower for Mexican Americans (5%) compared to whites (11%) who were arrested for DUI but not convicted, but higher for those convicted (12% vs. 5%). While conviction status of the identifying DUI offense was not predictive of recidivism among Mexican Americans, a DUI conviction in the preceding year was significantly predictive. Among white arrestees, receiving a conviction was significantly, and negatively, predictive of recidivism, but among those who were convicted, a previous DUI conviction in the last year was predictive of recidivism. Referral to a DUI treatment program was not a significant predictor of recidivism among those convicted in either ethnic group. Conclusions: The data suggest that conviction for a DUI may not play the same role in the likelihood of subsequent DUI convictions for Mexican Americans as for whites, and this difference may need to be considered in DUI treatment programs. Additional research on ethnic differences in DUI offenses and recidivism over longer periods of follow-up is needed to determine ethnic-specific intervention and prevention strategies for DUI.