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Abstract

The role that alcohol plays in facilitating crime is widely acknowledged, and alcohol's relationship to crimes against persons has been well documented. Nevertheless, there have been few systematic attempts to examine the dynamics of what are referred to as alcohol-related crimes (driving under the influence, public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, and liquor law violations). Given that these offenses account for approximately one third of the arrests made annually in the United States, the role of alcohol in these offenses clearly warrants analysis. The present study examines the relationship of alcohol availability in each state, as measured by the prevalence of various types of alcohol outlets, to arrest rates for alcohol-related offenses, controlling for relevant demographic and socioeconomic variables. The results indicate that density and type of alcohol outlets are, indeed, significant predictors of alcohol-related crimes. The findings suggest, however, that outlets have widely varied effects for different alcohol-related offenses. Explanations and policy implications for the findings are discussed.

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Alcohol Availability and Alcohol-Related Crime

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