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13 Crim. Behav. & Mental Health 1 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/cbmh13 and id is 1 raw text is: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 13, 1-4 2003 0 Whurr Publishers Ltd Editorial Alcohol and crime Sometimes it seems that British society simply accepts the problems caused by alcohol as an unpleasant fact of life that must be endured. Ill health, absen- teeism, accidents, and underperformance at work, crime and disorder on the streets are the price we pay for living in a culture that permits alcohol consumption. Compare this with the constant reports from the 'war on drugs' that pervade the media, despite the much higher prevalence of alcohol-related problems. This bias is reflected in research funding, with alcohol remaining a 'Cinderella issue' in the UK (Alcohol Concern, 2002). Researchers nevertheless persist in their worthwhile endeavours, examining the causes, correlates and consequences of alcohol use and misuse. Every so often, interest in alcohol problems takes an upward turn, and the value of their research is appreciated. In 2001, the Government at Westminster produced proposals for relaxing the licensing laws (Home Office, 2001). The point of the proposed changes is to allow citizens and visitors the opportunity to enjoy a drink at any time, without being inconvenienced by abstruse licensing laws. This report was followed a year later by a Department of Health plan to formulate a National Harm Reduction Strategy (Department of Health, 2002). The potential increase in crime and disorder was acknowledged in both reports. Time for Reform, the Home Office paper, focused principally upon measures for controlling disorder in and around licensed premises, whereas the Department of Health Document asked a wider range of questions about the development, context, control and treatment of alcohol-related crime. Given these developments, it is timely to assess what we know and what needs to be researched. We know that alcohol is implicated in crime. Surveys of offenders show that they are very heavy drinkers in comparison with non-offenders, particu- larly 16- to 24-year-olds. In the UK, around 60% of male prisoners and almost 40% of female prisoners are hazardous drinkers, compared with around 30% of male and at most 10% of female general hospital patients (Singleton et al., 1999). We also know that offending is more prevalent in heavy drinkers (Fergusson et al., 1996), and population studies show that, as alcohol consumption increases, so does violent offending (Norstram, 1998). Many arrestees are drunk (Bennett, 1998), and a sizeable proportion of offenders 1

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