A cognitive therapy treatment program for repeat DUI offenders

✍ Scribed by Kathleen A. Moore; Melissa Harrison; M. Scott Young; Ezra Ochshorn

• Book ID: 104021422
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 478 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0047-2352
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.09.004

✦ Synopsis

Driving under the influence is a devastating problem in the United States, killing almost 17,000 people in 2005. The present article describes a cognitive treatment program aimed at repeat drinking and driving offenders. Sixty-three participants were court mandated to the four-month outpatient treatment program. Before entering and after completing treatment, participants were administered self-report instruments measuring alcohol problems, readiness to change, self-esteem/efficacy, and criminal thinking patterns. Additionally, arrest histories were examined. Findings suggested that participants were characterized not only by repeated arrests, but elevated blood alcohol content and high levels of self-reported alcohol dependency and problem-drinking behaviors. The majority of clients expressed a readiness to change their drinking and driving behaviors with 87 percent graduating from the program. A DUI recidivism rate of 13 percent was found for graduates of the program at a twenty-one month follow-up. The results demonstrate that the treatment program is a valuable tool in the battle to reduce criminal recidivism.