Citation

Heinonen J. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1993; 1993: 341-344.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper presents some results of a study by the A-Clinic Foundation in Finland, aimed at improving the treatment of DWI offenders (people convicted of any drinking and driving offence) at A-Clinics (voluntary outpatient clinics for alcohol abusers). The project attempted to: (1) improve working methods with DWIs at A-Clinics; (2) estimate how many DWIs seek help for their alcohol problems; (3) motivate DWIs to seek help directly in the arrest situation. It was found that 35% of the clients at A-Clinics had at some time been arrested for drunken driving. DWIs at A-Clinics are less chronic alcoholic abusers than typical alcoholics, so that the results of their treatment may be better than average. However, the DWIs at A-Clinics are the most chronic part of the DWI population, and their rate of recidivism was about 50%. Unexpectedly, almost half of the DWIs had sought help voluntarily before their arrest, and the most chronic DWIs seemed to seek help most often. Drunken driving was often found to be a symptom of wider problems, and the study's findings suggest that many DWIs have adopted a multidimensional 'high risk' lifestyle, where drunken driving is not their main problem.