Making the Link: A Public Health Approach to Preventing Alcohol-Related Violence and Crime (From Alcohol & Crime: Research and Practice for Prevention, Alcohol Policy 12 Conference)

• NCJ Number: 185781
• Author(s): James F. Mosher; David H. Jernigan
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 21 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin (SAMHSA)
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; National Crime Prevention Council
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the public health approach to preventing alcohol-related violence and crime.

Abstract

The public health and criminal justice fields are undergoing significant shifts in their theoretical and practical understanding of alcohol problems and their prevention, shifts that create new opportunities for collaboration. Public health has broadened its focus, from looking primarily at individuals with alcohol-related diseases to an environmental perspective, which examines the political, social, economic, cultural, and physical contexts in which alcohol problems occur. Similarly, criminal justice has shifted from a primary focus on punishment and individual deviance to incorporate a "broken windows" approach to crime prevention, an approach that recognizes that neighborhood deterioration encourages criminal activity. These shifts have led the two fields to common strategies for reducing alcohol-related crime and violence, with a common focus on community action and change. The article describes public health strategies targeting alcohol availability, prices, advertising and promotions, and products. Notes, tables, bibliography