Rearrest Rates After Incarceration for DWI: A Comparative Study in a Southwestern U.S. County

• NCJ Number: 255597
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 92 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 1826-1831
• Author(s): Stephen J. Kunitz; W. Gill Woodall; Hongwei Zhao; Denise R. Wheeler; Robert Lillis; Everett Rogers
• Date Published: November 2002
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study assessed a 28-day detention and treatment program's effect on first-time offenders sentenced for driving while impaired (DWI) in a multiethnic county with high rates of alcohol-related arrests and crashes.

Abstract

The study compared baseline characteristics, survival curves of subsequent arrest, and Cox proportional hazards regression to examine probability of rearrest for those sentenced and those not sentenced to the program. The probability of not being rearrested was found to be significantly higher for the treatment group after adjustment for covariates. After 5 years, the probability of not being rearrested for the treatment compared to the nontreatment group was 76.6 percent compared to 59.9 percent. The overall conclusion is that this county's program has significantly lowered DWI rearrest rates for Native Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites. (publisher abstract modified)