This article discusses a programme for the rehabilitation of drunk drivers undergoing sentences at the De Raam prison in the south east Netherlands. About 1000 such drivers are imprisoned there each year, and they can participate voluntarily in the programme, which has been operating since 1979 and aims to reduce recidivism of driving under the influence of alcohol. Originally, it was assumed that the most important conditions for behavioural change were more knowledge about alcohol and traffic, and changes of attitudes towards them. Thus the programme was mainly educational, providing information and discussion. However, the character of the target population changed considerably during recent years. Recidivism rates for alcohol traffic offences and other alcohol-related offences increased considerably. About 57% of the programme participants can now be classified as alcohol addicts or people with an increased risk of addiction. Abuse of alcohol was found to be a very important cause of recidivism among the drinking and driving prison population. For these reasons, the programme was extended from one week to two weeks. Although it remains educational, it now has the additional goal of motivating participants to reduce their alcohol consumption; four motivation principles and techniques are used.
Samenvatting