National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime: Recommendations to the Office of Justice Programs

• NCJ Number: 172209
• Date Published: April 1998
• Length: 75 pages
• Agencies: OJP

Annotation

This report summarizes the deliberations and recommendations from the Office of Justice Program's (OJP's) National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime.

Abstract

The symposium had a four-fold purpose: to explore what is known about alcohol and crime, how criminal justice agencies currently respond to alcohol abuse, how the criminal justice system can better use its leverage to respond to this problem, and how the OJP can have a meaningful impact in this area. Symposium participants included researchers, medical experts, and treatment providers, along with criminal justice practitioners. The symposium's working groups focused on four topic areas: the role of alcohol in domestic violence and its implications for criminal justice intervention, effective interventions for offender populations, community-based responses and initiatives, and the underage use of alcohol. Plenary presentations designed to provide participants with a common frame of reference for their discussions supplemented the working group sessions. These presentations were representative of a variety of perspectives and addressed the current state of knowledge on alcohol abuse and its relationship to crime; treatment approaches and their effectiveness; cultural and ethnic dimensions of alcohol abuse; the role of alcohol in domestic violence; community initiatives to address alcohol-related crimes; interventions within the correctional system; and the underage use of alcohol. This report summarizes each of the working group's discussions and recommendations and presents a synthesis of the recommendations that fall most clearly within the purview of the Office of Justice Programs. Appended symposium agenda and a list of symposium participants