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Young Men, Alcohol and Violence: A poisonous relationship? Dr Linda Blud, LMB Consultancy Ltd

Young Men, Alcohol and Violence: A poisonous relationship? Dr Linda Blud, LMB Consultancy Ltd. Alcohol misuse contributes to a variety of criminal behaviours and costs an estimated £7.3bn per year. Alcohol is strongly associated with crime and violent crime in particular.

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Young Men, Alcohol and Violence: A poisonous relationship? Dr Linda Blud, LMB Consultancy Ltd

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  1. Young Men, Alcohol and Violence: A poisonous relationship?Dr Linda Blud, LMB Consultancy Ltd

  2. Alcohol misuse contributes to a variety of criminal behaviours and costs an estimated £7.3bn per year. Alcohol is strongly associated with crime and violent crime in particular. A large number of prisoners were under the influence of alcohol at the time of their offence and many (2/3 of male prisoners) were hazardous drinkers in the year prior to incarceration. The Government introduced an Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy in 2004, and in line with this HM Prison Service has developed an Alcohol Strategy for Prisoners. Poly-substance users in prison have access to accredited programmes, but there is no programme available currently specifically addressing alcohol-related offending. Why an alcohol programme for prisoners?

  3. Alcohol use, unlike illicit drug use, isn’t a crime. People aren’t in prison for using alcohol Use of alcohol in prison is much less common than continued use of drugs in prison. Usually, problem drinkers will be abstinent during their sentence. Risk of relapse into alcohol use in open conditions and on release is high Outside prison, access to alcohol, and the contexts and situations in which alcohol use can occur, are very different from those existing in relation to illicit drug use. Why a programme specifically targeting alcohol use and offending?

  4. Phase 1: • Literature review • Needs analyses • Focus Groups

  5. Target Group Male offenders • Young men are particularly likely to engage in alcohol-related crime • Drinking patterns and crime vary with age • Younger male binge drinkers are more likely to commit a violent offence than other young adults Aged 18-30

  6. Target Group Convicted for alcohol-related violent crimes • Targeting the relationship between alcohol and violent crime • Offering a choice in terms of drinking goals Alcohol in the event Hazardous drinking rather than dependency

  7. Target Group Short and longer-term offenders • Modules 1-4 can be completed at any point during sentence. • Module 5 can be delivered as a follow-on from Modules 1-4, or at a later date (prior to a move to open conditions or release) as a “booster” programme. Time left to serve

  8. Phase 2: • Developing the programme • Running a pilot group

  9. Model of Change:Relationship between Alcohol and Violence

  10. Predisposing factors: Personality, trait aggression, Impulsivity, family history • Learned behaviours: • Beliefs, attitudes and outcome expectancies about alcohol and violence • Poor problem solving and decision making skills • Poor emotional management and coping skills Hazardous alcohol use Violence Hazardous alcohol use Environment: Role models, macho culture, social contexts, type of drink, dosage (large city centre venues, binge drinking) Violence • Effects of Alcohol: • Alters cognitive functioning • (increased sensitivity to threat, • reduced awareness of consequences, etc.) • Increases psychomotor activity • Reduces inhibitory effect of fear • Acts as an analgesic (feel no pain) OR • increases pain sensitivity and defensiveness • Exacerbates angry aggression • Reinforces expectations • Excuses aggression Increased risk of Violence McMurran et al 2006

  11. Treatment Targets Poor emotional Management and lack of skills to deal with negative feelings Motivation: What drink problem? Beliefs, attitudes and outcome expectancies about alcohol and aggression Contexts, relationships and lifestyle supporting problematic alcohol use and violence Poor decision-making and problem-solving skills

  12. Risk-Needs Model Dynamic risk factors associated with recidivism are systematically targeted in treatment and the intensity of treatment delivered is related to each offender’s assessed level of risk. Andrews and Bonta (1998)

  13. Criminogenic (dynamic risk factors) Pro-criminal attitudes Criminal associates Substance abuse Anti-social personality Problem-solving skills Hostility-anger Non-criminogenic Self-esteem Anxiety Feelings of alienation Psychological discomfort Group cohesion Criminogenic vs non-criminogenic needs From Ogloff (2002)

  14. Risk-Needs Model: criticisms • Focuses on negative/avoidant treatment goals • “One size fits all” approach • Relationship between risk and human needs • Treatment Readiness • Ignores facilitator factors

  15. Social Context and Role Models Attitudes, Beliefs and outcome expectancies supporting violence/alcohol link Victim Stance Thinking Traps: Magnifying, labelling Entitlement Thinking Traps: Shoulds and musts Fortune Telling Impulsivity, poor emotional management Reinforcement Reinforcement Alcohol and violence Loses/Caught & punished Wins/Gets away with it

  16. The “Good Lives” Model Offender Programmes should be guided by a conception of “good lives” The emphasis in treatment should be on goals and the internal/external conditions necessary to achieve them Treatment needs to have a more individual focus Ward, 2002

  17. Health and Life Usefulness Inner Peace Fun Independence Relationships Purpose Primary Human Goods(Good Life Needs) (based on Ward, 2002)

  18. The means used to secure primary goods (secondary goods: goals and strategies) Lack of scope Conflict among goals Lack of skills/ability to adapt Barriers and Traps(based on Ward, 2002)

  19. Module 4 : Reducing the risk of angry, impulsive decisions via problem solving and social skills training ACTION PLAN: developing relapse management strategies CHECK-INS: Practising objectivity WORKING TOWARDS A GOOD LIFE MODEL Module 5: Making learning real, relevant and realistic: by offering “try-outs” Alcohol-Violence Link Living a Good Life Sessions Living a Good Life Sessions Module 1: Challenging beliefs attitudes outcome expectancies supporting violence/alcohol Module 3: Breaking free from embedded ties to harmful social contexts and role models. Module 2: Breaking the link between negative mood negative thinking Case Studies: exploring the impact of alcohol

  20. Break the alcohol-violence link Throughout the programme– to increase motivation Check-ins Key Tools Living a Good Life Sessions Individualised Future-oriented Focus on important life goals Action Plans Case Studies

  21. Living a Good Life Sessions • 7 sessions • At the start of each module • At the end of the final two modules • Motivational • Focusing on goals and the achievement of a “good life” • Focuses on developing an action plan for the future that can aid in relapse management • Builds self-efficacy • Challenges the positives of drunkenness and aggression Alcohol Programme

  22. Tools: Check-ins • A simple objective factual description of the situation. • A description of the different thoughts they had • A description of their feelings • A factual description of how they behaved and what their goals were at the time. • Teaches objectivity • Provides a way of illustrating the role played by aggression and violence when alcohol’s not present

  23. Additional tools:Case Studies The same character is followed throughout the programme Provides concrete examples Provides a non-threatening way of illustrating the impact of alcohol on thoughts, feelings, actions. Provides a non-threatening method of teaching skills

  24. The Pilot • The relationship with alcohol and violence seems to be very resistant to change. • Most want to continue using alcohol and they don’t seem to want to give up violence.

  25. Cementing the Relationship: Drinking environment? Social Environment? Cultural Environment?

  26. Drinking Environment: Maximum volume vertical drinking venues

  27. “These men were part of a culture that encouraged drinking, where going out drinking was an evening’s activity. Moreover there are indications that their crime sprees were linked to binge drinking. Fighting in bars was part of the drinking culture as well.” Sampson and Laub, 2003, p 186 reporting on 1950s/60s America

  28. Social Environment “What am I? What do you look at? Nothing. A piece of shit” Arthur, 65 “What I done here is a success story. I have no education whatsoever, I have no grammar school, no high school. No nothing. In plain English. I done all the shit jobs because I had no education. Worked every day in my life. Whenever I lost one job I got another. No I think I done pretty goddamn good” Michael, 63

  29. Social Environment Opportunities vs meanings Redemption or Condemnation? Maruna (2002)

  30. Cultural Environment Climate of Distrust: Get them before they get you

  31. the myth of the bogeyman… See Maruna, S (2000)

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