Screening and Brief Intervention of Detainees for Alcohol Use: A Social Crime Prevention Approach to Combating Alcohol‐Related Crime?

Abstract

Irresponsible and excessive consumption of alcohol and the associated problems it carries in its wake have become one of the key concerns for central government in terms of community safety, especially in the night-time economy. In response to the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (Department of Health 2007), the Department of Health (DoH) has announced a series of measures of which one is to pilot screening and intervention for alcohol use in a variety of locations, including criminal justice settings. This article reports on the findings of a project that pre-empts the DoH initiatives, thus providing the opening comments in what will be sure to be a debate about a new strategic and evidence-based approach to dealing with alcohol-related crime and disorder. The article provides data and discussions on the Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) project that screened 3,900 detainees in a busy custody suite in the south of England during the period

A rapid systematic review of what we know about alcohol use disorders and brief interventions in the criminal justice system

“…Three had a low risk of bias (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Brown et al, 2010;Barton, 2011). One study had a low risk of bias (Brown et al, 2010) and the others an unsure risk of bias.…”

“…Five studies were identified relating to the police custody suite setting (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Brown et al, 2010;Barton, 2011;Kennedy et al, 2012;McCracken et al, 2012). Three had a low risk of bias (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Brown et al, 2010;Barton, 2011).…”

“…Results showed that between 64 and 84 per cent scored positive for an alcohol use disorder (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Brown et al, 2010;Barton, 2011;Kennedy et al, 2012;McCracken et al, 2012). Prevalence of probable dependence ranged from a low of 21 per cent (Barton, 2011) to between 35 and 38 per cent (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Kennedy et al, 2012;McCracken et al, 2012).…”

“…Prevalence of probable dependence ranged from a low of 21 per cent (Barton, 2011) to between 35 and 38 per cent (Hopkins and Sparrow, 2006;Kennedy et al, 2012;McCracken et al, 2012).…”

Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Police Custody Suites: Pilot Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial (AcCePT)

“…An extensive body of international evidence demonstrates a link between alcohol consumption, risky behaviours and criminal activity ( Miller et al , 2006 ; Newbury-Birch et al , 2009 ; Barton, 2011 ; Bouchery et al , 2011 ; Kennedy et al , 2012 ; Kinner et al , 2015 ; Needham et al , 2015 ; Orr et al , 2015 ; de Andrade et al , 2016 ). Alcohol-related crimes have been estimated to cost £11 billion per annum in the UK ( Home Office, 2013 ) and between $73 and $84 billion in the USA ( Miller et al , 2006 ; Bouchery et al , 2011 ).…”