Alcohol and violent and non-violent acquisitive offending

Abstract

Where alcohol-related crimes are concerned, the focus on violence is not misplaced, however, there is a possibility that some acquisitive offending may be driven to support offenders’ drinking. We examined self-reported information about current offences in a sample of 126 British prisoners, looking at both violent offences motivated by financial gain and property-related acquisitive crimes, and their relationships with drinking. We found that offending to finance drinking was a motivation among a small percentage of both violent and acquisitive offenders, and, although small, these are worthy of attention. Those motivated to offend by the need to finance their drinking score significantly higher than those otherwise motivated on a measure of hazardous drinking.

• Alcohol
• acquisitive offending
• AUDIT