There is a close connection between alcohol use and crime for both perpetrators and victims. These beliefs have been supported by research studies that have variously shown that: among those who offend, rates of alcohol abuse are elevated; or among those who abuse alcohol, rates of criminal offending are elevated. Alcohol use is also involved more frequently in violent and public disorder crimes than in property crimes. The pharmacological properties of alcohol might impair potential perpetrators’ higher-level cognitive processes and increase the likelihood of aggressive behaviour.
Violent Crime
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) has found consistently that alcohol is more likely than other drugs to be involved in substance-related violence. Studies have also found that the more serious the crime or injuries, the more likely alcohol was involved, for example homicides are more likely to have involved alcohol than are less serious crimes.
Alcohol consumption also increases the severity of domestic violence. In a survey of marital violence among newlyweds, researchers found that physically aggressive episodes were 4x as likely as verbally aggressive episodes to involve a spouse’s drinking.
Sexual Assault
Approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with either the perpetrator’s alcohol consumption, the victim’s alcohol consumption, or both. There is support for both psychological and pharmacological mechanisms linking alcohol and sexual assault. Alcohol’s effects on cognitive and motor skills can effect how the perpetrator and victim are able to process and react to one another’s verbal and nonverbal behaviour. The effects may also reinforce stereotypes about gender roles and can influence perpetrators’ actions in this way.
Some perpetrators may consciously or unconsciously drink alcohol prior to committing sexual assault in order to justify their behaviour:
- The desire to commit sexual assault may cause the alcohol consumption
- Alternatively, certain personality characteristics (low in empathy, antisocial) or life experiences (witnessing parental violence) may lead the perpetrator to drink heavily and then later on commit sexual assault.
- Alcohol often acts in a greater effect with other variables; for example if an individual were to believe that their date has led them on and acted like they wanted to have sex with them and then they were also drinking; together these factors may increase the likelihood of the individual committing sexual assault
It should be noted that even though alcohol contributes to sexual assault, it does not diminish the perpetrator’s responsibility, they are still morally and legally responsible for any sexual assault they commit.
Drinking and Driving
Alcohol consumption can lead to risky driving and increased frequency of traffic accidents, injuries and mortalities. About 40% of all traffic mortalities are associated with alcohol. It is believed that the consumption of alcohol can influence some driving skills like choosing an appropriate speed, time and frequency of overtaking, braking, steering and determining the distance with other vehicles.
- In 2014, an estimated 2,297 Canadians died in motor vehicle crashes.
- 55.4% of these drivers were positive for alcohol and/or drugs.
- MADD Canada has estimated that approximately 1,000 Canadians die and another 60,000 are injured each year in all categories of impairment-related transportation crashes.