Moral Compliance, Private Self Interest and Exposure to the Law - The Response of Swedish Drivers to Drunken Driving Controls (From Econometric Analysis of Crime in Sweden, P 35-54, 1986, by Perry Shapiro and Harold L Votey, Jr - See NCJ-104530)

• NCJ Number: 104533
• Author(s): P Shapiro; H L Votey
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Case Western Reserve University; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Sweden
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-104530.

Annotation

Crime control depends critically on the effect of laws and their enforcement in reducing tendencies for illegal behavior in response to the threat of punishment or the effects of punishment itself.

Abstract

A behavioral model was developed to explain the probability of a person's being arrested for drunken driving, given his age, prior history of arrests, and environmental characteristics. This model provided a framework for examining the deterrence effectiveness of arrest and various sanctions. An examination of the entire arrest and conviction file for drunk driving in Sweden between 1976 through 1979 indicates that males between 26 and 55 years old were significantly more likely to drive under the influence than are older or younger men. Those with previous arrests were less likely to drive under the influence than were those with no arrests. These results suggest that those who are arrested or sanctioned are less likely to act illegally than they otherwise would. This may be the result of incapacitation, the larger costs involved in rearrest, or an increase in the perceived probability of arrest. Thus, arrests and sanctions appear to be cost effective means to reduce the loss of life and serious injury associated with drunken driving in Sweden. 1 table and 10 references.