NCJ Number
138500
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1992) Pages: 352-360
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A sample of 604 young (l7- to 21-year-old) convicted male offenders incarcerated in England's Young Offender Institutions was surveyed to explore an association between alcohol use and offense type.
Abstract
Both the association between alcohol use and delinquency and between alcohol use and crimes of a violent nature seem clearly established for these young offenders. Of the 604 interviewees, 150 (25 percent) indicated they were drunk at the time of the current offense, 96 (16 percent) reported they had been drinking but were not drunk, and 358 (59 percent) stated they were not under the influence of alcohol. There was a significant positive association between responses to the question of how many times they had (ever) beaten someone so badly that the person needed a doctor and habitual drunkenness and self-reported acquisitive offenses, damage, and violent offenses in general. The findings revealed a consistent pattern of verbal responses and reflected the nature of the relationship between alcohol and crime. The results of an analysis on other data were remarkably similar to these 1988 survey results. 4 tables and 4 references