DWI: An Isolated Incident or a Continuous Pattern of Criminal Activity? (From Drugs, Crime and the Criminal Justice System, P 257-272, 1990, Ralph Wiesheit, ed., -- See NCJ-123316)

• NCJ Number: 123326
• Author(s): L A Gould; D L MacKenzie
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study is designed to examine whether people arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) have a significant history of prior criminal arrests.

Abstract

A total of 723 adult males over age 17 who were arrested for DWI in Louisiana or licensed as of 1985 were selected. Historical information on the selected individuals was attained through a computerized check on traffic and criminal records. Evidence indicated a strong connection between an arrest for DWI and a prior criminal history. This same connection did not exist in the regular licensed male population. An individual with a DWI arrest is more likely than an individual in the general licensed population to have had a prior arrest on another charge, and the arrest is more likely to have come as a result of a violent crime against another person. There is a necessity for subtyping of DWIs before an evaluation as to treatment or sentence is made by any public agency. To know the "whole picture" of an individual DWI offender, a system of subtyping is necessary before treatment or rehabilitation can be expected to have an effect. 4 tables, 43 references.