NCJ Number
107582
Date Published
1987
Length
20 pages
Annotation
In April 1980, data on 481 males held in Swedish institutions for drunk driving sentences were analyzed to determine their criminality and likelihood of recidivism.
Abstract
Of the sample, 244 had been convicted of drunk driving as the main offense, while 228 had been convicted of another offense but drunk driving was a secondary offense. Of the first group, about 62 percent had previous convictions for some offense and about half for drunk driving. About 32 percent had been in custody for drunk driving offenses prior to this occurrence, and 15 percent had been in custody more than once. Even though drunk driving was the main offense for this group, 92 persons or 38 percent had convictions for another offense on a previous occasions. Results of data analysis for the group having drunk driving as a secondary offense indicate that the most common offense is crimes of opportunity followed by crimes against the life and health of persons. Many persons in this group lacked driver's licenses and therefore were also convicted of driving without a license. Of this group, 93 percent had earlier convictions for crimes other than drunk driving. Still, the majority had prior drunk driving convictions as well. Taken together as a group, 68 persons in this sample had a combined total of 106 previous prison convictions for drunk driving, and the 115 persons with earlier prison convictions for other offenses, had drunk driving as at least one charge in earlier convictions. Overall, the results indicate significant criminality among persons convicted of drunk driving and also indicate that this group is not homogenous, although the second group (drunk driving not main offense) is considerably more criminal than the first group. 9 tables and 35 references