Download Young Men, Alcohol and Violence

Young Men, Alcohol and Violence:
A poisonous relationship?
Dr Linda Blud, LMB Consultancy Ltd
Why an alcohol programme for
prisoners?
 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 alcoholrelated offending.
Why a programme specifically
targeting alcohol use and
offending?
 Alcohol use, unlike
 Risk of relapse into
illicit drug use, isn’t a
alcohol use in open
crime. People aren’t in
conditions and on release
prison for using alcohol
is high
 Use of alcohol in prison  Outside prison, access to
is much less common
alcohol, and the contexts
than continued use of
and situations in which
drugs in prison.
alcohol use can occur, are
Usually, problem
very different from those
drinkers will be
existing in relation to
abstinent during their
illicit drug use.
sentence.
Phase 1:
 Literature review
 Needs analyses
 Focus Groups
Target Group
Male offenders
Aged 18-30
 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
Target Group
Convicted for
alcohol-related
violent crimes
Alcohol in the
event
Hazardous drinking
rather than
dependency
 Targeting the
relationship between
alcohol and violent crime
 Offering a choice in
terms of drinking goals
Target Group
Short and longerterm offenders
Time left to
serve
 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.
Phase 2:
 Developing the programme
 Running a pilot group
Model of Change:
Relationship between Alcohol
and Violence
Predisposing factors:
Personality, trait aggression,
Impulsivity, family history
Violence
Learned behaviours:
• Beliefs, attitudes and outcome expectancies about
alcohol and violence
•Poor problem solving and decision making skills
•Poor emotional management and coping skills
Environment:
Role models, macho culture,
social contexts, type of drink, dosage
(large city centre venues, binge drinking)
Violence
Increased risk
of Violence
McMurran et al 2006
Hazardous
alcohol use
Hazardous
alcohol use
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
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
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)
Criminogenic vs non-criminogenic
needs
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
From Ogloff (2002)
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
Social Context and Role
Models
Reinforcement
Shoulds and musts
Fortune Telling
Victim Stance Thinking
Traps:
Magnifying, labelling
Impulsivity, poor emotional
management
Reinforcement
Entitlement Thinking
Traps:
Attitudes, Beliefs and
outcome expectancies
supporting
violence/alcohol link
Alcohol and
violence
Wins/Gets
away with it
Loses/Caught
& punished
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
Primary Human Goods
(Good Life Needs)
(based on Ward, 2002)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Health and Life
Usefulness
Inner Peace
Fun
Independence
Relationships
Purpose
Barriers and Traps
(based on Ward, 2002)
• The means used to secure primary
goods (secondary goods: goals and
strategies)
• Lack of scope
• Conflict among goals
• Lack of skills/ability to adapt
WORKING TOWARDS A
GOOD LIFE MODEL
ACTION PLAN:
developing relapse
management strategies
Module 5: Making learning real,
relevant and realistic: by offering
“try-outs”
Alcohol-Violence
Link
Module 1: Challenging
beliefs attitudes outcome
expectancies supporting
violence/alcohol
Module 2: Breaking the link
Case Studies:
between negative mood
exploring the
negative thinking
impact of alcohol
Module 3: Breaking
free from embedded ties to
harmful social contexts
and role models.
Living a Good Life Sessions
Living a Good Life Sessions
CHECK-INS:
Practising
objectivity
Module 4 : Reducing the
risk of angry, impulsive
decisions via problem
solving and social skills
training
Throughout the programme– to increase motivation
Key Tools
Check-ins
Living a
Good
Life
Sessions
Action
Plans
Case
Studies
Individualised
Future-oriented
Focus on important
life goals
Break the alcoholviolence link
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
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
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
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.
Cementing the Relationship:
Drinking environment?
Social Environment?
Cultural Environment?
Drinking Environment:
Maximum volume vertical drinking
venues
“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
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
Social Environment
Opportunities vs meanings
Redemption or Condemnation?
Maruna (2002)
Cultural Environment
Climate of Distrust:
Get them before they get you
the myth of the bogeyman…
See Maruna, S (2000)