Criminality and Driving While Intoxicated: A Comparison of DWI's and a Random Sample of Licensed Drivers

• NCJ Number: 119983
• Journal: Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1989) Pages: 114-126
• Author(s): L A Gould
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Originally presented at the Mid-South Sociological Meeting, Memphis, 1987

Annotation

Individuals arrested for DWI are more likely to have a prior criminal history than members of a comparison group of licensed drivers.

Abstract

The difference between single and multiple DWI offenders is also examined. Social control theory would suggest that DWI is not an isolated incident of socially unacceptable behavior, but part of a continuing deviant behavior pattern. It follows that the more DWIs the individual commits, the more likely he is to commit other crimes. An archival review of prior criminal histories for people arrested for DWI in Louisiana, including the type and number of previous arrests and certain demographic factors, supports this hypothesis. 1 table, 40 references. (Author abstract modified)