NCJ Number
52222
Journal
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL Volume: 32 Issue: 1-A Dated: (MARCH 1971) Pages: 136-147
Date Published
1971
Length
12 pages
Annotation
FACTORS CORRELATING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR WITH PROBLEM DRINKING ARE DISCUSSED ON THE BASIS OF A LONG TERM STUDY OF A SAMPLE OF FELONS.
Abstract
IN 1959-1960, PSYCHIATRISTS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS STUDIED A CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF 223 CONVICTED MALE FELONS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED FROM MISSOURI PENAL INSTITUTIONS, TOGETHER WITH SOME RECENT PAROLEES AND PROBATIONERS. THE AIM WAS TO DETERMINE THE NATURE AND PREVALENCE OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS PRESENT IN SUCH A POPULATION AND IDENTIFY ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THESE DISORDERS AND CERTAIN BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS. THIS STUDY REVEALED THAT 43 PERCENT OF THE MEN WERE ALCOHOLICS BY SPECIFIC CHECKLIST CRITERIA. A FOLLOWUP STUDY OF THE SAMPLE WAS BEGUN IN JULY 1967 AND COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER 1968. OF THE GROUP OF 223 MEN IN THE ORIGINAL SAMPLE, 94 PERCENT WERE LOCATED ON FOLLOWUP. OF THESE, 176 WERE INTERVIEWED, AND 118 OF THEM AT SOME TIME HAD EXPERIENCED SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR MEDICAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH DRINKING. DRINKING PROBLEMS IN THIS GROUP OF MEN WERE SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATED WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF SOCIOPATHY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. THE FORMER DETERMINATION WAS BASED ON A HISTORY OF DELINQUENCY AND OTHER ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR ANTEDATING THE ONSET OF HEAVY DRINKING AND APPARENTLY UNRELATED TO ALCOHOLISM. THE ALCOHOLICS IN THE SAMPLE REPORTED A HIGHER INCIDENCE OF FAMILY PSYCHOPATHOLOGY THAN DID THE NONALCOHOLICS. OF 93 UNEQUIVOCAL ALCOHOLICS, 38 WERE IN REMISSION, ALL BUT 2 WITHOUT PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT. REMISSION CORRELATED WITH REASONABLY SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT, AGE, AND RACE (WHITE MOST LIKELY TO BE IN REMISSION). THE REMITTED WERE ALSO MORE LIKELY ROMAN CATHOLICS OR OF NO RELIGION RATHER THAN PROTESTANTS, MORE LIKELY TO HAVE NONALCOHOLIC FATHERS, AND LESS LIKELY TO HAVE RELATIVES WHO HAD BEEN INCARCERATED. A MAJORITY OF THOSE IN REMISSION MAINTAINED MODERATE DRINKING HABITS, TENDING TO CHALLENGE THE POPULAR BELIEF THAT PROBLEM DRINKERS ARE ALCOHOLICS AND ALCHOLICS CANNOT DRINK MODERATELY WITHOUT INEVITABLY ASCENDING TO ABUSIVE PATTERNS. THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY ARE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF RELATED STUDIES. DATA FROM THE STUDY ARE INCLUDED. (RCB)