Alcohol-related crime: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Alcohol (drug)#Social harm]] {{R from merge}} {{R to section}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} |
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{{short description|Criminal activities that involve alcohol use}} |
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[[File:Stonehenge trouble on stones.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a group of people standing outside at nighttime, two of whom are barechested and one of whom is balancing on a stone|In the United Kingdom, the police normally only enforce the laws against public intoxication if the intoxicated person is unable to act in a reasonable manner, as demonstrated by such activities as climbing on [[Stonehenge]] ''(pictured)''.]] |
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'''Alcohol-related crime''' refers to criminal activities that involve alcohol use as well as violations of regulations covering the sale or use of alcohol; in other words, activities violating the [[alcohol laws]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Sung|first=Hung-En|chapter=Alcohol and Crime|date=2016|encyclopedia=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology|pages=1–2|publisher=American Cancer Society|doi=10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosa039.pub2|isbn=9781405165518}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlJwMtaFVm4C&pg=PA6|title=Understanding Drugs, Alcohol And Crime|last1=Trevor|first1=Bennett|last2=Katy|first2=Holloway|date=1 April 2005|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (UK)|isbn=9780335212576|pages=6}}</ref> [[Underage drinking]] and [[drunk driving]] are the most prevalent alcohol‐specific offenses in the United States<ref name=":0" /> and a major problem in many, if not most, countries worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://njduidefense.lawyer/drunk-driving-statistics-worldwide/|title=Drunk Driving Statistics in the US and Across the World|date=13 November 2017|website=Law Office of Douglas Herring|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/archive/drunk-driving-increasing-concern-worldwide|title=Drunk Driving Increasing Concern Worldwide|website=Voice of America|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Sweedler|first1=Barry M.|title=Worldwide trends in alcohol and drug impaired driving|date=2009|work=Drugs, Driving and Traffic Safety|pages=23–41|editor-last=Verster|editor-first=Joris C.|publisher=Birkhäuser Basel|doi=10.1007/978-3-7643-9923-8_2|isbn=9783764399238|last2=Stewart|first2=Kathryn|editor2-last=Pandi-Perumal|editor2-first=S. R.|editor3-last=Ramaekers|editor3-first=Johannes G.|editor4-last=de Gier|editor4-first=Johan J.}}</ref> Similarly, arrests for alcohol-related crimes constitute a high proportion of all arrests made by police in the U.S. and elsewhere.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cm5zmpcVNfQC&pg=PA273|title=Sociology of Deviant Behavior|last1=Clinard|first1=Marshall|last2=Meier|first2=Robert|date=14 February 2007|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=9780495093350|pages=273}}</ref> |
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Crime perpetrators are much more likely to be intoxicated than crime victims. Alcohol availability and consumption rates and alcohol rates are positively associated with nuisance, loitering, [[Begging|panhandling]], and disorderly conduct in open spaces; [[domestic violence]]; as well as [[violent crime]]s, through specifics differ between particular countries and cultures.<ref name=":0" /> Research found that factors that increase the likelihood of alcohol‐related violence include difficult temperament, hyperactivity, hostile beliefs, history of family violence, poor school performance, delinquent peers, criminogenic beliefs about alcohol's effects, impulsivity, and antisocial personality disorder.<ref name=":0" /> |
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In the early 2000s, the monetary cost of alcohol-related crime in the United States alone has been estimated at over $205 billion, twice the economic cost of all other [[drug-related crimes]].<ref name=":1" /> In a similar period in the United Kingdom, the cost of crime and its antisocial effects was estimated at £7.3 billion.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldQLhklj3m0C&pg=PA109|title=Alcohol-Related Violence: Prevention and Treatment|last=McMurran|first=Mary|date=3 October 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118411063|pages=337–338}}</ref> Another estimate for the UK for yearly cost of alcohol-related crime suggested double that estimate, at between £8 and 13 billion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/9/10-010910/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504141105/http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/9/10-010910/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 May 2014|title=WHO {{!}} Governments confront drunken violence|website=WHO|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref> Risky patterns of drinking are particularly problematic in and around Russia, Mexico and some parts of Africa.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msbgsruprofiles.pdf|title=Global status report on alcohol and health|date=2011|website=World Health Organization}}</ref> |
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The relation between [[alcohol and violence]] is not yet fully understood, as its impact on different individual varies. While alcohol use correlates positively with crimes and violence, there is no simple, causal and direct relationship. Studies and theories of [[alcohol abuse]] suggest, among others, that use of alcohol likely reduces the offender's perception and awareness of consequences of their actions.<ref name="Holstege232" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWUnAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|title=Alcohol and Crime|last=Dingwall|first=Gavin|date=23 July 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134029709|pages=160–161}}</ref> The [[World Health Organization]] has noted that out of [[social issue|social problems]] created by the harmful use of alcohol, "crime and violence related to alcohol consumption" are likely the most significant issue.<ref name=":4" /> |
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==Types== |
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Some crimes are uniquely tied to alcohol, such as [[public intoxication]] or [[underage drinking]], while others are simply more likely to occur together with alcohol consumption. |
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===Domestic violence and child abuse=== |
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{{main|Domestic violence|child abuse}} |
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[[Domestic violence]] typically co‐occurs with alcohol abuse. Alcohol use has been reported as a factor by two-thirds of domestic abuse victims. Moderate drinkers are more frequently engaged in intimate violence than are light drinkers and abstainers, however generally it is heavy and/or binge drinkers who are involved in the most chronic and serious forms of aggression. The odds, frequency, and severity of physical attacks are all positively correlated with alcohol use. In turn, violence decreases after behavioral marital alcoholism treatment. Studies also suggest there may be links between alcohol abuse and [[child abuse]].<ref name=":0" /> |
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===Driving under the influence=== |
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{{main|Driving under the influence}} |
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[[File:Drive the car being sober.JPG|thumb|right|An Estonian billboard warning against drunk driving]] |
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Driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI), is the crime of driving a [[motor vehicle]] while impaired by [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] or other [[drug]]s including those prescribed by physicians.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hfw5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1|title=Driving Under the Influence: A Report to Congress on Alcohol Limits|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration|year=1992|pages=1–}}</ref> |
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With alcohol consumption, a [[drunk driver]]'s level of intoxication is typically determined by a measurement of [[blood alcohol content]] or BAC; but this can also be expressed as a breath test measurement, often referred to as a BrAC. A BAC or BrAC measurement in excess of the specific threshold level, such as 0.08%, defines the [[criminal offense]] with no need to prove impairment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nvpac.nv.gov/DUIhome/|title=Nevada's Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws|last1=Nelson|first1=Bruce|website=NVPAC|publisher=Advisory Council for Prosecuting Attorneys|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422000604/http://nvpac.nv.gov/DUIhome/|archive-date=22 April 2017|access-date=3 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In some jurisdictions, there is an aggravated category of the offense at a higher BAC level, such as 0.12%, 0.15% or 0.25%. In many jurisdictions, police officers can conduct field tests of suspects to look for signs of intoxication. |
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===Drug facilitated sexual assault=== |
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{{main|Drug facilitated sexual assault}} |
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{{also|Campus sexual assault|date rape drug}} |
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Alcohol abuse increases the risk of individuals either experiencing or perpetrating [[sexual violence]].<ref name="Chersich-2010">{{Cite journal | last1 = Chersich | first1 = MF. | last2 = Rees | first2 = HV. | title = Causal links between binge drinking patterns, unsafe sex and HIV in South Africa: its time to intervene | journal = Int J STD AIDS | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 2–7 |date=Jan 2010 | doi = 10.1258/ijsa.2000.009432 | pmid = 20029060 | s2cid = 3100905 }}</ref> Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a sexual assault carried out after the victim has become incapacitated due to having consumed [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] or other drugs. Alcohol remains the most commonly used predator drug,<ref>[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85513.php Alcohol Is Most Common 'Date Rape' Drug]. Medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved on 1 June 2011.</ref> being readily available as well as legal, and is said to be used in the majority of sexual assaults.<ref name="Holstege232">{{cite book|editor=Christopher P. Holstege|display-editors=etal|title=Criminal poisoning: clinical and forensic perspectives|url=https://archive.org/details/criminalpoisonin00hols_101|url-access=limited|publisher=Jones and Bartlett Publishers|location=Sudbury, Mass.|isbn=978-0763744632|pages=[https://archive.org/details/criminalpoisonin00hols_101/page/n250 232]|date=25 October 2010}}</ref> Many assailants use alcohol because their victims often willingly imbibe it, and can be encouraged to drink enough to lose inhibitions or consciousness. Sex with an unconscious victim is considered rape in most if not all jurisdictions, and some assailants have committed "rapes of convenience" whereby they have assaulted a victim after he or she had become unconscious from drinking too much.<ref>[http://survive.org.uk/date-rape.html Date Rape]. Survive.org.uk (20 March 2000). Retrieved on 1 June 2011.</ref> |
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===Methanol-adulterated alcohol=== |
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{{main|Methanol poisoning outbreaks}} |
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[[Outbreak]]s of [[methanol poisoning]] have occurred when methanol is used to adulterate [[moonshine]] (bootleg liquor).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/selection_medicines/committees/expert/19/applications/Fomepizole_4_2_AC_Ad.pdf |title=Application to Include Fomepizole on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines |date=November 2012 |page=10}}</ref> Methanol has a high toxicity in humans. If as little as 10 mL of pure methanol is ingested, for example, it can break down into [[formic acid]], which can cause permanent [[blindness]] by destruction of the [[optic nerve]], and 30 mL is potentially fatal,<ref name="Vale">{{cite journal |author=Vale A |title=Methanol |journal=Medicine |volume=35 |issue=12 |pages=633–4 |year=2007|doi=10.1016/j.mpmed.2007.09.014}}</ref> although the median lethal dose is typically 100 mL (3.4 fl oz) (i.e. 1–2 mL/kg body weight of pure methanol<ref>{{cite web|title=Methanol Poisoning Overview|url=http://www.antizol.com/mpoisono.htm|publisher=Antizol|access-date=11 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005043548/http://www.antizol.com/mpoisono.htm|archive-date=5 October 2011|url-status=dead}} dead link</ref>). [[Reference dose]] for methanol is 0.5 mg/kg/day.<ref>[http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0305.htm Methanol (CASRN 67-56-1)]</ref> Toxic effects take hours to start, and effective antidotes can often prevent permanent damage.<ref name="Vale"/> Because of its similarities in both appearance and odor to [[ethanol]] (the alcohol in beverages), it is difficult to differentiate between the two. |
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=== Public drunkenness === |
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{{main|Public intoxication}} |
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{{also|Drinking in public}} |
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[[File:Alcoholism 01.jpg|thumb|right|Drunkard passed out on a bench]] |
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Public drunkenness or intoxication is a common problem in many jurisdictions. The offenders are often lower class individuals and this crime has a very high recidivism rate, with numerous instances of repeated instances of the arrest, jail, release without treatment cycle. The high number of arrests for public drunkenness often reflects rearrests of the same offenders.<ref name=":3" /> |
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=== Robbery and violent crimes=== |
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{{main|Violent crimes}} |
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Robbery and violent crimes often involve alcohol use, and there is a positive correlation between such crimes and alcohol use.<ref name=":0" /> 15% of robberies, 63% of intimate partner violence incidents, 37% of sexual assaults, 45-46% of physical assaults and 40-45% of homicides in the United States involved use of alcohol.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/alcohol/crimes/|title=Alcohol-Related Crimes: Statistics and Facts|website=Alcohol Rehab Guide|access-date=3 September 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldQLhklj3m0C&dq=Alcohol-related%20crime&pg=PA37|title=Alcohol-Related Violence: Prevention and Treatment|last=McMurran|first=Mary|date=3 October 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118411063|pages=37}}</ref> A 1983 study for the United States found that 54% of violent crime perpetrators, arrested in that country, had been consuming alcohol before their offenses.<ref name=":3" /> In the United Kingdom, in 2015/2016, 39% of those involved in violent crimes were under alcohol influence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alcoholchange.org.uk/alcohol-facts/fact-sheets/alcohol-statistics|title=Alcohol statistics|website=Alcohol Change UK|language=en-GB|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref> International studies are similar, with an estimate that 63% of violent crimes worldwide involves the use of alcohol.<ref name=":1" /> |
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== Prevention and enforcement == |
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[[File:Exhibition poster A skeleton clutching a bottle Wellcome L0072177.jpg|thumb|right|Early 20th century Dutch poster about the dangers of [[alcoholism]]]] |
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Criminologist Hung‐En Sung has concluded in 2016 that with regards to reducing drunk driving, law enforcement has not generally proven to be effective. Worldwide, the majority of those driving under the influence do not end up arrested. At least two thirds of alcohol‐involved fatalities involve repeat drinking drivers. Sung, commenting on measures for controlling drunk driving and alcohol‐related accidents, noted that the ones that have proven effective include "lowering legal blood alcohol concentrations, controlling liquor outlets, nighttime driving [[curfew]]s for minors, educational treatment programs combined with [[driving license|license]] suspension for offenders, and [[court monitoring]] of high‐risk offenders."<ref name=":0" /> In general, programs aimed at reducing society's consumption of alcohol, including education in schools, are seen as an effective long-term solution. Strategies aiming to reduce alcohol consumption among adult offenders have various estimates of effectiveness.<ref name=":2" /> |
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Alcohol use is stereotypically associated with crime, and therefore policing alcohol‐related street disorder and enforcing compliance checks of alcohol‐dispensing businesses has proven successful in reducing public perception of and fear of criminal activities.<ref name=":0" /> |
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===Taxes=== |
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* [[Pigovian tax]]es, which are to pay for the damage to society caused by these goods. |
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* [[Sin tax]]es are used to increase the price in an effort to lower [[Demand|their use]], or failing that, to increase and find new sources of revenue. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Alcohol myopia]] |
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*[[Rum-running]] |
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*[[Drug-related crime]] |
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*[[Legal drinking age]] |
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*[[List of countries by alcohol consumption per capita]] |
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*[[Prohibition of alcohol]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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{{Alcohol and health}} |
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[[Category:Crime by type]] |
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[[Category:Alcohol abuse]] |
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[[Category:Alcohol and health]] |
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[[Category:Alcohol law]] |
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Revision as of 02:42, 16 April 2023
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