NCJ Number
113839
Journal
Journal of Studies on Alcohol Volume: 48 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1987) Pages: 591-594
Date Published
1987
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article compares 543 Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) arrestees referred by the court for alcoholism treatment with 827 nonDWI and noncourt-referred patients in the same outpatient treatment programs which were based on the Minnesota Model.
Abstract
This treatment model uses the first four to five steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to focus group and individual therapy on the goal of total abstinence. The sample for this study was selected from all outpatients enrolled in the Chemical Abuse-Addiction Treatment Outcome Registry (CATOR) during the second half of 1981 and 1982. The results showed that DWI arrestees tended to be younger and unmarried, but were more likely to complete treatment. Although DWIs were all alcoholics, as a group they appeared to represent a generally less advanced stage of alcoholism than the nonDWI subject. Followup surveys on subsamples of the patients six months after completing the treatment program demonstrated improvement for both DWI and nonDWI patients. Few outcome differences between the two groups were discovered. These findings suggest that outpatient alcohol abuse treatment may be an important element in any integrated policy on drunken driving. Tables and 18 references. (Author abstract modified)