NCJ Number
153136
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 24 Issue: 1 and 2 Dated: (Winter/Spring 1994) Pages: 143-163
Date Published
1994
Length
21 pages
Annotation
In 1989 and 1990, interviews were conducted with 268 homicide offenders incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities for homicides that occurred in 1984 to obtain the offenders' perspectives as to the drug relatedness of these homicides.
Abstract
The interviews focused on the relationship between alcohol and homicide. The authors show how interviews with prison inmates overcome some of the problems that exist with studies of the alcohol-homicide connection that rely on official record data. Among the findings are that 19 percent of the homicides were reported to be related to alcohol use, that the majority of these cases involved arguments or disputes, and that in about half of these cases the respondent was high on at least one other substance. The study also examined the "alcohol-related" cases from the perspective of a tripartite conceptual framework that specifies the variety of ways that drugs and violence can be related. The fact that almost one out of five of all the homicides were believed to be related to alcohol use clearly provides support for the idea that the role of alcohol needs to be considered when developing programs and policies for the prevention of homicide and other forms of interpersonal violence. 5 tables and 36 references