NCJ Number
104616
Date Published
Unknown
Length
28 pages
Annotation
The criminal histories of 71 offenders assigned to the Criminal Alcoholic Program (CAP) in Dougherty County, Ga., were compared 2 years before and after the offenders completed this judicial diversion program.
Abstract
One CAP component consists of 12 2-hour classes designed to improve attitudes, perceptions, and social stress reaction patterns through the use of will power, diet, cognitive perception, and the quality of offender social goals. Pre-post psychological tests monitor probationer progress. The second program component is weekly mandatory ingestion of 1,500 milligrams of disulfiram for 120 days. This produces physically adversive effects to alcohol-oxidation at the acetaldehyde stage of metabolism. Chronic alcoholics having more than one past conviction for an alcohol-related offense are given a choice between incarceration and participation in CAP. A total of 41 percent of the study sample had no recorded arrests for 2 years after completing the program, and significant reductions in criminal behavior were evidenced for most of the sample between pretest and posttest periods, with the most significant reductions for traffic and alcohol-related offenses. 3 tables, 38 references, and 10 notes.