I Did It, But…: Exploring DUI Offender Deviance Rationalization in the Digital Age

ABSTRACT

The dangers associated with alcohol-impaired driving are well documented, most recently stabilizing at still problematic levels around 2010. Recent estimates indicate over 1 million annual DUI arrests. Researchers have primarily adopted quantitative approaches to identify common predictors of impaired driving. Few studies have systematically examined this group using qualitative data, specifically how they process the heavily stigmatized arrests and none have specifically examined these processes in online spaces. To fill this gap, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on over 600 DUI narratives from reddit. This study documents the stigmatizing effects of a DUI arrest and explores the utility of accounts and techniques of neutralization in negotiating impaired driving on a digital stage. Analyses suggest offenders utilize multiple strategies to deflect full culpability for their arrest, performing impression management through excuses, justifications, and techniques of neutralization to minimize responsibility for driving impaired, the reason for police contact, failed field sobriety tests, or illegal blood alcohol concentrations. These insights provide additional support for the utility of easily accessible online data as a fruitful arena for analyses of contemporary social problems.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the anonymous reviewers, who offered valuable suggestions for improvement and to others who contributed ideas or feedback throughout the generation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ The official name as listed online is ‘reddit,’ as opposed to ‘Reddit.’ I will therefore use ‘reddit’ in the entirety of the study.

² An initial final sample was 470 narratives, which was used to collect the systematic sample for pilot coding. Additional narratives were added after completion of the 470, and further review was conducted of narratives that had previously been excluded.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Tatch

Andrew Tatch is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Troy University. His research broadly focuses on substance use/abuse, impaired driving, health disparities, and deviant behavior.