DWI Offenders Research Articles

Teenage Male DWI offenders: Personality features, driving-risk, and alcohol and other drug use

Teenage Male DWI offenders: Personality features, driving-risk, and alcohol and other drug use

Psychosocial and Sociodemographic Characteristics of DWI Offenders

Psychosocial and Sociodemographic Characteristics of DWI Offenders

The limited utility of BAC for identifying alcohol-related problems among DWI offenders.

To see if blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is a significant indicator of problem drinking or an alcohol-related diagnosis, the relationships between BAC at arrest for drinking and driving, typical drinking, alcohol-related problems, problem drinking and an alcohol abuse or dependence diagnosis were examined for 235 drinking and driving offenders referred for alcoholism evaluation. BAC and typical drinking correlated weakly and no significant relationship between alcohol-related problems and BAC was found. Further, no significant relationship was found between BAC and alcohol abuse or dependence diagnoses, or between problem drinking and BAC. These findings cast doubt on the usefulness of a single report of BAC for diagnostic and screening purposes.

Psychosocial characteristics of persons convicted of driving while intoxicated.

Psychosocial and sociodemographic characteristics were obtained on a sample of 498 Missouri DWI offenders. The information included problems associated with alcohol use, past treatment, arrest data, stressful life events, depression, and substance abuse. Descriptive results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.

First-time and multiple-DWI offenders: A comparison of criminal history records and BAC levels

This study compared forst-time DWI offenders to those individuals with multiple DWI offenses. The hypothesis was that the population of DWI offenders is not homogeneous and that the multiple DWI- offenders would show greater evidence of global criminality. The hypothesis was grounded in the theory of generality of deviance. The means of comparison were the numbers and types of arrests plus examination of the blood alcohol levels at the time of arrest. The findings indicate support for the hypothesis.

Multiple and single location drinking among DWI offenders referred for alcoholism evaluation.

Problem-drinker drivers who drank at multiple locations differ substantially from those who drank at only one location. Persons who drank at more than one location prior to their DWI arrest exhibit the most severe alcohol problems. Multilocation drinkers consumed significantly greater amounts of alcohol--for nearly all alcohol measures including consumption per drinking day, consumption averaged over 30 days, and consumption on the day of the DWI arrest--than single location drinkers. The multilocation group experienced more alcohol problems in their lives, had higher Mortimer-Filkins test scores, were intoxicated more frequently, and had a greater probability of a DSM-III-R alcohol-dependence diagnosis. Compared to the single location drinkers, the multilocation group had more bad driving incidents, frequently (once a week) drove while drunk, and expressed the attitude that the DWI had less of an impact on their lives. The findings suggest that multilocation drinkers require intensive interventions.

A New Implementation of Sheedy's Visual Grating Task

A simple visual paradigm involving a square-wave grating, introduced by Sheedy in 1981, was developed into a compact, portable device to be used for screening DWI offenders in the field.

The prevalence of antisocial behavior among U.S. Army DWI offenders.

This study compares arrest records for three groups of male soldiers. The first group of 76 had been arrested for DWI, completed a 5-day, in-patient evaluation/education program and were subsequently re-arrested, all within the period from January 1985 through December 1987. The second group of 76 was composed of a random sample, matched by age and ethnicity who had completed the 5-day program following a DWI but had not been re-arrested. The third group was a control group of 76, matched by age and ethnicity, but with no record of DWI, who were randomly selected from the same military units as the initial two groups. Soldiers with one DWI had significantly more arrests than did soldiers in the control group; soldiers with two DWI arrests had significantly more arrests than either of the other groups. The data indicate that soldiers apprehended for DWI are more likely than non-arrestees to be arrested for a wide variety of antisocial behaviors.

Problem drinking and depression among DWI offenders: A three-wave longitudinal study.

Longitudinal data collected at 3 occasions of measurement from a convicted driving-while-intoxicated sample (n = 302) were used to study the interrelations between problem drinking and depressive symptomatology. Time intervals between occasions of measurement were approximately 9 months. Cross-lagged latent variable models indicated that higher levels of depression at Time 1 were significantly associated with lower levels of problem drinking at Time 2. Similarly, higher levels of problem drinking at Time 1 were significantly associated with lower levels of depression at Time 2. However, the direction of effects for the cross-lagged coefficients were reversed for the Time-2-Time-3 relations. Higher levels of depression at Time 2 were significantly associated with higher levels of problem drinking at Time 3, and higher levels of problem drinking at Time 2 were associated with higher levels of depression at Time 3. The results are interpreted to reflect a biphasic process.

Problem drinking and depression among DWI offenders: A three-wave longitudinal study.

Problem drinking and depression among DWI offenders: A three-wave longitudinal study.

Alcoholism and depressive symptomatology among convicted DWI men and women.

Interrelationships between DSM-III-based alcoholism diagnostic groups and depressive symptomatology were assessed for a sample of 461 convicted DWI offenders. The highest rate of depressive symptomatology was reported by persons diagnosed as alcohol dependent, and such findings were robust across male and female offenders. However, a significant interaction effect was found in which alcohol-dependent women reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology than alcohol-dependent men. With the exception that men reported significantly more previous DWI arrests than women, few differences were found between the gender groups with respect to a range of demographic variables, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.

Drinking drivers in Sweden who consume denatured alcohol preparations: an analytical-toxicological study.

In the course of analyzing blood samples from drunk drivers, several low molecular weight volatiles were occasionally identified in addition to ethanol on the gas chromatograms. Among 21, 153 blood specimens analyzed during 1986, 77 contained ethanol as well as other volatile agents at the following mean concentrations: ethanol 2090 mg/L (range 830-3410), methanol 49.6 mg/L (range 20-178), acetone 88.3 mg/L (range 12-307), 2-propanol 32.2 mg/L (range 4-99), 2-butanone 49.2 mg/L (range 5-144), and 2-butanol 23.2 mg/L (range 4-64). A technical alcohol widely available in Sweden, trade name T-red, contains 92% w/w ethanol, 2% w/w acetone, and 5% w/w 2-butanone. A red coloring agent and a substance to impart a bitter taste (bitrex) are added to deter consumption. The drinking drivers who consumed technical alcohol were on average older (43 years compared with 35 years) and had higher mean BAC (2090 mg/L compared with 1767 mg/L). Those who drank denatured alcohol were more often apprehended while driving small motorcycles (mopeds) than were control groups of DWI offenders. The use of technical alcohol for intoxication might reflect, at least in part, the high costs and restricted availability of conventional alcoholic beverages in Sweden.

Family history of alcoholism, youthful antisocial behavior and problem drinking among DWI offenders.

This study assessed the impact of family history of alcoholism and antisocial behavior on problem drinking among male first-time DWI offenders. A sample of 123 men in DWI classes were assessed on demographic factors, antisocial behavior and family history of alcoholism. Also, measures of current and past drinking problems were assessed, including scales of perceived ability to control consumption, degree of physical dependence, occurrence of alcohol-related problems and preoccupation with alcohol. The results indicated that while family history of alcohol and antisocial behavior were not significantly related to quantity/frequency of alcohol consumption or alcohol-related problems, family history was related to drink duration. Main effects of family history and antisocial behavior were found for preoccupation with alcohol and physical dependence. There was a significant interaction with respect to perceived ability to control drinking. Results are discussed with regard to the implication that family history of alcoholism and antisocial behavior may influence the development of important precursors to alcoholism.

Effects of moral reconation therapy upon moral reasoning, life purpose, and recidivism among drug and alcohol offenders.

40 incarcerated DWI offenders and 62 drug offenders who were treated with Moral Reconation Therapy were assessed with respect to levels of moral reasoning, their perceived purpose in life, and subsequent recidivism. Analysis showed that, as clients progress in the program, levels of moral reasoning and purpose in life increase significantly. Level of moral reasoning appears to increase with clients' completion of therapeutic steps. Preliminary recidivism data on 103 male and female inmate-clients who have participated in an aftercare program using the therapy appear encouraging.

Profile Differences Between DWI Clients and Alcoholics:

Treating DWI offenders has proven to be the newest challenge to our field. These clients are often hostile and resistant in our programs. Research also indicates that little seems to effect repeat offenders. This conclusion forces us to take a look at our programs and our assumptions about this population. Certain characteristics in the DWI population illustrate that this group is different from alcoholics in treatment. These important differences would impact on the effectiveness of our DWI programs. Our program design and treatment strategies should reflect these differences if we hope to increase our effectiveness and provide quality care.

Drunk Driving and the Alcoholic Offender: A New Approach to an Old Problem

Health laws in every state recognize alcoholism as a treatable disease. State drunk driving laws, however, inadequately provide for alcoholic drunk drivers. Studies show that problem drinkers make up as much as two-thirds of the DWI offender class. Alcoholic drunk drivers cannot fully conform their drinking behavior to the dictates of the law as long as their alcoholism remains untreated. This Note argues that the law should consistently treat alcoholism as a disease. This Note suggests that the most appropriate way for the legal system to deal with alcoholic DWI offenders is to suspend the offender's license until he can show that he has successfully completed an initial alcohol detoxification/rehabilitation program. In addition, because alcoholism requires lifelong treatment, alcoholic drivers should be required to present periodic documentation that their condition is under supervised treatment. Epileptic drivers are handled in a similar manner in most states.

Treating the Family of the DWI Offender

Treating the Family of the DWI Offender

Attempts to dissuade drinkers from driving: the effect of driver characteristics.

Data on 148 convicted DWI offenders were analyzed to determine whether characteristics of intoxicated drivers have an influence on the likelihood that other people would attempt to dissuade them from driving. Results indicate that women, older people, people who are fearful or anxious, and people who are seriously impaired by alcohol are more likely than others to be the object of attempts to dissuade them from driving while intoxicated. Two explanations of these patterns are offered. One is based on the notion of perceived social threat. The other is based on the notion of perceived self-sufficiency (or the lack thereof).

Creative Interventions for DWI Offenders

The Creative Interventions Alcohol Awareness Program provides innovative and effective treatment of individuals with multiple Driving While Intoxicated arrests. Albert Bandura's social learning theory provides a theoretical basis for the use of behavioral techniques to help group members acquire effective interpersonal skills. Behavioral change in the program is fostered by a gestalt orientation, cognitive restructuring, and experimentation with eleven specifically defined behaviors. The particularly difficult problem of measuring the effect of a program has been incorporated into the learning process, with observable behaviors providing group leaders and participants with a sound basis for evaluation.

Creative Intervention for DWI Offenders

The Creative Interventions Alcohol Awareness Program provides innovative and effective treatment of individuals with multiple Driving While Intoxicated arrests. Albert Bandura's social learning theory provides a theoretical basis for the use of behavioral techniques to help group members acquire effective interpersonal skills. Behavioral change in the program is fostered by a gestalt orientation, cognitive restructuring, and experimentation with eleven specifically defined behaviors. The particularly difficult problem of measuring the effect of a program has been incorporated into the learning process, with observable behaviors providing group leaders and participants with a sound basis for evaluation.