The "Study of Health in Pomerania" (SHIP) was initiated in 1997 in order to assess the general health status of 7000 inhabitants of the region of Pomerania. Associated with this epidemiological project, an interdisciplinary group of researchers in the fields of medicine, psychology, sociology, and criminology started to investigate the patterns of alcohol consumption and the related problem of drunk driving. In a longitudinal design, the preliminary results are based on the statistical evaluation of the first wave of 353 out of 760 cases. Results confirm assumptions of prior investigations, showing that two factors are of high relevance in the prediction of drunk driving: Drinking habits and behaviour control. Further it was found that most of the drunken drivers show a lot of supplementary health problems. Concerning intervention, the present sentencing practice often misses opportunities to use temporarily given readiness of offenders to participate in rehabilitative treatment, as the penal sanctions are not matched with the problem structure of offenders.
Abstract