Alcohol, Crime and Public Health

Alcohol, Crime and Public Health explores the issue of drinking in the criminal justice system, providing an overview of the topic from both a criminal justice and a public health perspective. The majority of prisoners in the UK (70%) have an alcohol use disorder, and evidence tells us that risky drinking is high amongst those in contact with all areas of the criminal justice system. Uniquely, this book brings both a criminal justice and a public health perspective to the topic. The book opens by exploring the levels of crime attributed to alcohol, the policy context of alcohol and crime, and the prevalence of risky alcohol consumption in the criminal justice system. The following chapters examine risky drinking amongst men, women and young people in the criminal justice system. The final chapters look at the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for risky drinking in the criminal justice system, and look forward to how researchers and practitioners can work together to produce research in the criminal justice system. Written in an accessible and concise style, Alcohol, Crime and Public Health will be of great use to students of criminology, criminal justice and public health as well as the wider area of public and social policy in relation to alcohol and crime.

Dorothy Newbury-Birch is Professor of Alcohol and Public Health Research at Teesside University, UK. She leads a team of researchers and students in work around co-producing public health research in various settings including the criminal justice system. Professor Newbury-Birch is a world-leading expert in work around reducing alcohol-related harm in society, particularly for young people and those in various stages of the criminal justice system. Jennifer Ferguson is a lecturer in Criminology and a senior researcher in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law at Teesside University, UK. Jennifer comes from a legal background, having completed her law degree and Legal Practice Course (LPC) in 2010. She has been working as a researcher since 2011 on various alcohol projects and has moved more towards research in the criminal justice system. Her research expertise includes alcohol-related harm in the criminal justice setting.

CHAPTER 1 - What do we mean by public health, criminal justice and alcohol use disorders? CHAPTER 2 - The policy context of alcohol and crime CHAPTER 3 - Prevalence of risky alcohol consumption amongst adults in the criminal justice CHAPTER 4 - Risky drinking amongst men in the criminal justice system CHAPTER 5 - Risky drinking amongst women in the criminal justice system CHAPTER 6 - Risky drinking and brief interventions for young people in the criminal justice system CHAPTER 7 - The efficacy of psychosocial brief alcohol interventions for risky drinkers in the criminal justice system CHAPTER 8 - The way forward: researchers and practitioners working in a co-productive way to produce research in the criminal justice system