Interactions among DUI offender characteristics and traditional intervention modalities: a long-term recidivism follow-up.

Using long-term DUI (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol) arrest recidivism data from a controlled study of DUI intervention effectiveness, interactions among DUI interventions, age, race, education, and alcohol severity were estimated using logit analysis. Data were collected in a 9-year follow-up study of the Mississippi DUI Probation Project. The effects of short-term interventions (alcohol education schools for low alcohol severity offenders and structured group interventions for high alcohol severity offenders) were specified by educational level. Short-term rehabilitation was modestly effective for those with less than 12 years of education, but less effective or detrimental for the more highly educated. The effects of probation were specified by age and education, being more effective for those under 30 years and 55 years or older than for the middle age group. Probation was most effective for well-educated older (55+) offenders. An analysis of the under 30 years group also suggested that probation was especially effective for young well-educated Minority offenders.

A typology for drinking driving offenders: methods for classification and policy implications.

Comprehensive arrest histories were obtained for 353 DUI offenders who were referred to a probation and rehabilitation demonstration program. The average number of total offenses was 7.9, with 89% of all tracked offenders having more than one offense. Approximately 63% of all recorded offenses were other types of offenses besides DUI. The overall arrest history profile of the group suggested that many DUI offenders are habitual violators of other laws as well. To identify distinctive arrest profiles within the referral sample, a Q mode factor analysis followed by a discriminant function analysis was used to classify offenders into profile subgroups. Five distinctive subgroups emerged. A "low offense" group was characterized by the lowest average number of overall arrests and also contained all offenders with no arrest besides the index DUI arrest. A "mixed" group had a higher average number of total arrests than the "low offense" group and diverse types of offenses. A young "traffic" group was distinguished by many hazardous moving violations other than DUI. Two smaller and older groups--a "public drunkenness" group and a "license" group--had the highest average number of arrests including DUI, public drunkenness, license violations, equipment violations, disturbance arrests and assault arrests. These subgroups were found to differ on demographic variables and drinker status variables. The "public drunkenness" group was found to have the highest accident rate. Groups were compared to groups found in other cluster analyses. Also, treatment implications were discussed. It was suggested that treatment programs focusing exclusively on changing alcohol consumption behavior are not likely to reduce accident risk for some of the offender groups. For example, it was suggested that effective intervention for the "traffic" group should target driving behavior, whether drunk or sober, rather than focus exclusively on consumption behavior. Other alternatives are also discussed.

Drinking locations and frequency of drunkenness among Mississippi DUI offenders.

Using data collected from convicted drunken drivers, relationships between self-reported frequency of drunkenness, frequency of drinking in seven types of drinking places, and sociodemographic characteristics are examined. Drunk drivers who are young, White, and who infrequently attend worship services are more likely than others to report a high frequency of drunkenness. Self-reported frequency of drunkenness is found to be more strongly related to drinking locations than to sociodemographic characteristics, however. The best predictors of the frequency of drunkenness are the frequency of drinking in automobiles and the frequency of drinking in bars or lounges. These relationships remain strong after the effects of sociodemographic characteristics have been controlled. The findings suggest that drunk drivers who drink in automobiles may represent an especially dangerous subgroup, and that policy makers need to give careful consideration to countermeasures designed to curtail drinking in automobiles.

The Life Activities Inventory as a countermeasure for driving while intoxicated.

The simple administration of the Current Status section of the Life Activities Inventory appears to reduce drunken-driving recidivism substantially and cost-efficiently among "lower-risk" drinkers.