NCJ Number
94080
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 93-102
Date Published
1981
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of the Oshawa Impaired Drivers Program (Ontario) found that while the treatment group improved significantly on knowledge about drinking and drinking-driving compared to the control group, attitude and recidivism were not significantly different between the treatment and control groups.
Abstract
The original Oshawa Impaired Drivers Program consisted of 9 weekly 2.5-hour sessions conducted by resource people on such topics as the effects of alcohol and drugs on driving ability, skills in coping with stress, defense mechanisms, alcoholism, the role of the police, and drinking-driving legislation. The treatment group completed an 18-item knowledge test and the 20-item Drinking-Driving Opinion Survey at the beginning and end of each nine-session series. The Mortimer-Filkins test was administered during the first class to detect problem drinkers. Program participants had been convicted of at least two alcohol-related traffic offenses. Of the 131 participants (70 in the treatment group, 61 in the control group), 128 were male and 3 were female. The driving records for 120 of the 131 participants were obtained for the 3.5 years following the program's beginning. On the knowledge scale, the treatment group demonstrated a significant increase in scores at the posttest compared to the pretest, a finding not observed with the control group. Although the results of the attitude scale also showed a significant increase in positive attitude from the pretest to posttest, both the treatment and control groups scored significantly more positively on the attitude scale at the posttest, suggesting that the passage of time rather than the program caused positive changes. Recidivism for both groups was about 18 percent. Included are characteristics of the treatment group, tabular data, and 19 references.