The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Association between three different cognitive behavioral alcohol treatment programs and recidivism rates among male offenders: findings from the United Kingdom

Association between three different cognitive behavioral alcohol treatment programs and recidivism rates among male offenders: findings from the United Kingdom
Association between three different cognitive behavioral alcohol treatment programs and recidivism rates among male offenders: findings from the United Kingdom
BACKGROUND:
Cognitive behavioral therapy-based alcohol treatment programs have been widely used to break the link between alcohol and crime. While evidence exists on the connection between alcohol and crime, there is little data that demonstrate the effectiveness of different alcohol treatment programs in reducing criminal behavior. We tested whether male offenders who participate in alcohol treatment programs show lower rates of recidivism than a matched offender group who did not participate in an alcohol prevention program.

METHODS:
This is an observational matched case-control study. Participants were 564 male offenders with an alcohol problem related to offending. Participants were assigned by the courts to 1 of 3 alcohol treatment programs (141 offenders per treatment): Low Intensity Alcohol Program (LIAP), Alcohol Specified Activity Requirement, and Addressing Substance-Related Offending. A fourth matched group (n = 141) was not assigned to a program and served as a control group. Survival analysis was used to calculate participants' charged and reconviction rates over 4 time periods (0 to 3, 4 to 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 12 months after completion of program or order).

RESULTS:
Offenders who did not participate in a program were more than twice as likely to be charged compared to offenders who participated in a program. Furthermore, offenders who did not participate in a program were over 2.5 times more likely to be reconvicted. Among the 3 alcohol treatment programs evaluated, the LIAP was the most cost-effective.

CONCLUSIONS:
Offenders enrolled in an alcohol treatment program showed a significant reduction in being charged with or reconvicted of a crime. With costs of keeping offenders in prison per year reaching close to £40,000 per offender per year (Mulheirn et al., 2010, www.smf.co.uk), assigning offenders to alcohol preventive programs-such as LIAP-are a promising way to reduce recidivism and reduce cost.
0145-6008
1100-1107
Needham, Marie
5fd9c338-a401-4016-84c4-a10323649d1d
Gummerum, Michaela
25b6bc9d-98b8-48c2-84aa-ee3cc921250e
Mandeville-norden, Rebecca
c9670638-5966-44ea-8cb4-2131fe85f8b7
Rakestrow-dickens, Janine
5890a85a-f364-4572-ba16-1b34d2f664ab
Mewse, Avril
985f78e9-4d3c-47a9-abaf-8dcf8de476e8
Barnes, Andrew
3c11fa1c-9c7e-49c0-bece-328794ca7e69
Hanoch, Yaniv
3cf08e80-8bda-4d3b-af1c-46c858aa9f39
Needham, Marie
5fd9c338-a401-4016-84c4-a10323649d1d
Gummerum, Michaela
25b6bc9d-98b8-48c2-84aa-ee3cc921250e
Mandeville-norden, Rebecca
c9670638-5966-44ea-8cb4-2131fe85f8b7
Rakestrow-dickens, Janine
5890a85a-f364-4572-ba16-1b34d2f664ab
Mewse, Avril
985f78e9-4d3c-47a9-abaf-8dcf8de476e8
Barnes, Andrew
3c11fa1c-9c7e-49c0-bece-328794ca7e69
Hanoch, Yaniv
3cf08e80-8bda-4d3b-af1c-46c858aa9f39

Needham, Marie, Gummerum, Michaela, Mandeville-norden, Rebecca, Rakestrow-dickens, Janine, Mewse, Avril, Barnes, Andrew and Hanoch, Yaniv (2015) Association between three different cognitive behavioral alcohol treatment programs and recidivism rates among male offenders: findings from the United Kingdom. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, 39 (6), 1100-1107. (doi:10.1111/acer.12738).

Record type: Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Cognitive behavioral therapy-based alcohol treatment programs have been widely used to break the link between alcohol and crime. While evidence exists on the connection between alcohol and crime, there is little data that demonstrate the effectiveness of different alcohol treatment programs in reducing criminal behavior. We tested whether male offenders who participate in alcohol treatment programs show lower rates of recidivism than a matched offender group who did not participate in an alcohol prevention program.

METHODS:
This is an observational matched case-control study. Participants were 564 male offenders with an alcohol problem related to offending. Participants were assigned by the courts to 1 of 3 alcohol treatment programs (141 offenders per treatment): Low Intensity Alcohol Program (LIAP), Alcohol Specified Activity Requirement, and Addressing Substance-Related Offending. A fourth matched group (n = 141) was not assigned to a program and served as a control group. Survival analysis was used to calculate participants' charged and reconviction rates over 4 time periods (0 to 3, 4 to 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 12 months after completion of program or order).

RESULTS:
Offenders who did not participate in a program were more than twice as likely to be charged compared to offenders who participated in a program. Furthermore, offenders who did not participate in a program were over 2.5 times more likely to be reconvicted. Among the 3 alcohol treatment programs evaluated, the LIAP was the most cost-effective.

CONCLUSIONS:
Offenders enrolled in an alcohol treatment program showed a significant reduction in being charged with or reconvicted of a crime. With costs of keeping offenders in prison per year reaching close to £40,000 per offender per year (Mulheirn et al., 2010, www.smf.co.uk), assigning offenders to alcohol preventive programs-such as LIAP-are a promising way to reduce recidivism and reduce cost.

Text
alcohol paper-final submitted 13_2_2014 - Accepted Manuscript
Download (220kB)

More information

Published date: 1 June 2015

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 434102
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/434102
ISSN: 0145-6008
PURE UUID: 4ebbf4e8-959c-47b0-8fac-86d376286710
ORCID for Yaniv Hanoch: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9453-4588

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Sep 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:02

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Marie Needham
Author: Michaela Gummerum
Author: Rebecca Mandeville-norden
Author: Janine Rakestrow-dickens
Author: Avril Mewse
Author: Andrew Barnes
Author: Yaniv Hanoch ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×