Alcohol Use and Negative Affect in the Offence Cycle

• NCJ Number: 203608
• Journal: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: 2003 Pages: 45-58
• Author(s): Andrew Day; Kevin Howells; Karen Heseltine; Sharon Casey
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This literature review examines the link between alcohol abuse and offending and draws some inferences about the role of alcohol use as a criminogenic need in offender rehabilitation.

Abstract

There is little doubt that alcohol use and criminal behavior are closely associated; however, the co-occurrence of alcohol use and criminal behavior is open to many interpretations. The issue regarding whether the empirical association between alcohol use and criminal acts involves a causal link remains largely unresolved. The intrapersonal or distal moderating factors that are believed to increase the risk of violence or offending following intoxication include personality traits, particularly antisocial personality disorder, impaired cognitive function, previous aggressive episodes, expectations that alcohol causes offending, and low levels of serotonin in the central nervous system. Also, chronic alcohol use is a factor that moderates the impact of intoxication on offending. Potential mediating mechanisms in the alcohol-crime link include reduced problem solving ability, diminished fear of consequences through anxiolytic effects, impaired cognitive functioning, a focus on the present rather than the future, increased emotionality, greater risk-taking, and increased "power concerns." Although these effects of alcohol use may not directly cause offending, they can increase the risk of offending. This paper also focuses on Baumeister's theories of cognitive deconstruction and self-regulation breakdown. These theories suggest that under certain conditions, including the state of negative affective arousal, individuals sometimes experience a state of cognitive deconstruction that can effect behavioral changes. Overall, the paper concludes that treatment of the offenders who abuse alcohol should focus on offender characteristics that predispose them to offend under the effects of alcohol. 51 references