Research suggests that a decreasing share of violent crime is attributable to offenders who had been drinking alcoholic beverages. Surveys of victims indicate that the rate of alcohol-involved violent crimes (i.e., crimes in which the perpetrators had been drinking, as perceived by the victims) decreased 34 percent from 1993 to 1998, whereas the rate of non-alcohol-involved violence decreased 22 percent. Surveys of some offenders also suggest that alcohol’s role in violence is decreasing. The decrease in alcohol-involved violence is consistent with declines in other measures of alcohol use and misuse, including per capita alcohol consumption and alcohol involvement in traffic crashes. In contrast, violent offenders in State prisons are increasingly likely to report having used alcohol before committing their offenses, possibly illustrating the effect of more severe sanctions for alcohol-involved offenses. KEY WORDS: AODR (alcohol or other drug [AOD] related) crime; AODR violence; offender; self-report; victim of crime; probation; jail inmate; AOD use pattern; trend; survey

Violent crime in the United States decreased at an unprecedented rate during the 1990s. According to victim surveys, approximately 23 percent fewer violent crimes occurred in 1998 than in 1993. Similarly, data from the 18,000 police departments nationwide indicated that the number of violent crimes brought to the attention of law enforcement authorities decreased 21 percent between 1993 and 1998. Criminologists have provided numerous reasons for the decline in violent crime that incorporate demographic, economic, and policyrelated explanations. Utilizing national data maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), this article examines the extent to which changes in alcoholinvolved violence may contribute to the declining rates of violent crime. 

Measuring the Extent to Which Alcohol and Other Drug Use Is Involved in Crime

Researchers face significant limitations in measuring the role of alcohol use in criminal behavior, because most alcohol consumption does not result in crime. In addition, nonoffending behavior is not typically measured; therefore, limited statistical information exists on which to estimate the likelihood that a person will commit a criminal act during or following alcohol consumption. This article examines two major sources of information on alcohol’s involvement in crime: (1) victim surveys and (2) offender surveys. A study reported by BJS in 1998, which used both of these resources, found that they yielded similar estimates regarding the involvement of alcohol and other drug use in crime. The investigators evaluated victim, offender, and law enforcement data from 1992 through 1995 and estimated that offenders had used either alcohol alone or alcohol with other drugs in approximately 37 percent of violent victimizations in which victims were able to describe substance use by the offenders (Greenfeld 1998). The study also found that in regard to violent offenders, 41 percent on probation, 41 percent in local jails, and 38 percent in State prisons reported that they had been using alcohol when they committed their offenses (Greenfeld 1998).

Victims’ Perceptions of Offenders’ AOD Use

Most knowledge about the incidence and prevalence of violence derives from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), an ongoing survey of U.S. households conducted since 1973 by the BJS. The NCVS gathers information about exposure to and consequences of crime among the general U.S. population. Researchers use a nationally representative sample of approximately 50,000 U.S. households. All household members age 12 and older are interviewed twice per year and are asked about any crimes that they may have experienced during the preceding 6 months. More than 200,000 interviews are conducted each year, and approximately 7,000 respondents report having been victims of violent crime—such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault—or victims of attempted violence.

In 1986 researchers added new items to the NCVS in order to gain information about the following: victims’ perceptions of alcohol and other drug use by offenders, ways in which victims attempted to protect themselves, and victims’ descriptions of the criminal justice system’s response. Questions on alcohol and other drug use were only asked of victims of violence, because personal contact between victims and offenders was essential for collecting data on victims’ perceptions (Whitaker 1989). Estimates derived from the NCVS indicated that about 70 percent of victims of violence were consistently able to describe whether their offenders had been drinking or using other drugs.

The first report to reflect the new information, published in 1989, indicated that among victims of violence who could determine whether their offenders had been using alcohol, only slightly less than one-half (49 percent) of the victims believed that the offenders had used alcohol. According to the victims’ reports, male offenders were more likely than were female offenders to have been drinking, white offenders were more likely than were black offenders to have been drinking, and older offenders were more likely than were younger offenders to have been drinking. No significant differences were found in alcohol use between offenders who were strangers and offenders who were not strangers (Whitaker 1989).

Between 1993 and 1998, the number of violent victimizations experienced by the public dropped about 23 percent, from just over 10.5 million to about 8.1 million (see table 1). Based on victims’ self-reports, the number of violent crimes in which the offenders were perceived to be using only alcohol decreased 34 percent between 1993 and 1998, whereas the number of violent offenses in which the offenders were believed to be using only other drugs actually increased 19 percent. The number of violent victimizations in which the offenders were not believed to be using alcohol or other drugs decreased 22 percent.

Table 1 Number of Violent Victimizations by Perceived Offender Substance Use, 1993 and 1998
	Victims’ Perceptions of Offender Substance Use
	1993	1998	Change in Perception From 1993 to 1998
Offender Substance Use	(n)	(n)	(%)
All violent victimizations	10,531,582	8,116,238	-23
Alcohol	2,069,457	1,365,903	-34
Illicit drugs	443,426	526,522	19
Both alcohol and illicit drugs	614,410	497,930	-19
No alcohol or illicit drugs	4,247,235	3,323,789	-22
Victim did not know	3,157,054	2,402,094	-24

SOURCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993 and 1998.

In 1993 victims ascribed alcohol use to offenders in nearly 2.1 million violent crime incidents; in 1998 an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes were considered alcohol-involved based on the victims’ perceptions. Whereas the number of violent crimes experienced by all victims decreased by approximately 2.4 million during that period, the number of alcohol-involved crimes decreased by about 700,000.

Victim surveys also suggest that when a violent offender is suspected of substance use, alcohol use is more often suspected than is other drug use. Based on the data from victims of violence who were interviewed between 1993 and 1998 and who could describe their offenders’ use of alcohol and other drugs, an estimated 26 percent of the offenders were using only alcohol; about 8 percent were using only illicit drugs; about 7 percent were using both alcohol and other drugs; about 2 percent were using a substance not known to the victim; and the remaining offenders, totaling about 58 percent, were not believed to have been using any substance at the time of their offenses (see table 2).

Table 2 Offender Substance Use at the Time of Offense, by Victim-Offender Relationship, 1993–1998
	Offender Substance Use*(%)
Victim-Offender Relationship	Total	Alcohol	Other Drugs	Alcohol and/or Other Drugs	No Substance Use
All victims of violence	100	26	8	9	58
Intimate partner**	100	51	10	12	28
Other family member	100	38	16	13	34
Acquaintance	100	26	10	11	53
Stranger	100	22	6	7	65

Substance use appears to be linked more often in intimate partner violence than in violence between strangers. Between 1993 and 1998, nearly three out of four victims who suffered violence by an intimate partner (i.e., a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol or other drug use had been present. Among spouse victims, 2 out of 3 incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking, and 8 out of 10 incidents involved alcohol, other drugs, or both. Among female victims of intimate partner violence, no differences were found in perceived alcohol or other drug use by race; approximately 6 out of 10 of black, white, and Hispanic women reported that the offender had been drinking or had been both drinking and using other drugs (see table 3). Victims perceived the offender to be using either alcohol alone or both alcohol and other drugs in only about 29 percent of violent incidents between strangers, however (see table 2).

*Offender substance use is based on reports from victims who were able to describe whether an offender had been using alcohol and/or other drugs at the time of the offense.

**Includes current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Substance use is more likely to be a factor in intimate partner violence compared with violence between strangers.

NOTE: Due to rounding, the percentages within the categories may not total 100 percent. SOURCE: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–1998.

Table 3 Rates of Substance Use Among Violent Offenders as Reported by Female Victims, by Victims’ Race/Ethnicity, 1993–1998* Female Victims’ Race/Ethnicity (%)

Offender Substance Use**	All	White	Black	Hispanic
Alcohol only	52	53	49	52
Other drugs only	10	11	8	9
Both	11	11	8	5
Either	2	2	3	1
Neither	25	23	31	33

*Rates reflect offender substance use in cases in which the victim was a female and the victim and offender were intimate partners.

**Offender substance use is based on reports from victims who were able to describe whether an offender had been using alcohol and/or other drugs at the time of the offense.

NOTE: Due to rounding, the percentages within the categories may not total 100 percent.

SOURCE: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–1998.

Offenders’ substance use (as perceived by victims) also varied by type of crime. Based on victim reports, drinking offenders committed more than one-third of the rapes and sexual assaults among victims age 12 and older and more than one-fourth of the aggravated and simple assaults. Among the alcohol-involved rapes and sexual assaults, the offender was perceived as using alcohol in combination with other drugs in 18 percent of the cases. Other drug use also was perceived by victims in 33 percent of the alcohol-involved robberies, 26 percent of the alcohol-involved aggravated assaults, and 16 percent of the alcoholinvolved simple assaults.

Table 4 illustrates the relationships between types of offender substance use and types of offenses. Among those cases in which the victim reported that the offender was using only alcohol (i.e., no other drugs) at the time of the offense, nearly two-thirds of the offenses were simple assaults. Robbery accounted for about 6 percent of the offenses by offenders reported to have used only alcohol but accounted for about 19 percent of the incidents in which the offenders were perceived to have been using other drugs.

Table 4 Offender Substance Use at the Time of Offense, by Type of Offense, 1993–1998

 Offender Substance Use* (%)

Type of Violent Offense	Alcohol Only	Other Drugs Only	Alcohol and Other Drugs	No Substance Use
Total	100	100	100	100
Rape/sexual assault	7	3	5	3
Robbery	6	19	11	17
Aggravated assault	23	26	31	23
Simple assault	65	52	52	57

*Offender substance use is based on reports from victims who were able to describe whether an offender had been using alcohol and/or other drugs at the time of the offense.

NOTE: Due to rounding, the percentages within the categories may not total 100 percent. SOURCE: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–1998.

Characteristics of Victimizations Involving Alcohol

From 1993 through 1998, nearly onehalf of the violent victimizations in which the victim reported alcohol use by the offender (i.e., alcohol-involved incidents) occurred in a residence, and more than 20 percent occurred in the victim’s home. One of seven alcohol involved incidents occurred near or at the victim’s workplace. More than one-third of the incidents involving alcohol occurred in a public place (e.g., commercial areas, parking lots, schools, or parks), with the most common location being an open area, such as in a park or on the street.

Almost one-half of the violent victimizations involving alcohol use by the offender occurred between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m., and slightly more than one-fourth of these incidents occurred between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. The fewest incidents occurred between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Overall, about 26 percent of all violent incidents from 1993 through 1998 involved the use of a weapon, 36 percent involved the use of hands and feet only, and 38 percent involved neither a weapon nor hands and feet. Alcohol-involved offenders, as described by victims, were as likely as violent offenders in general to have not used a weapon or to have used their hands and feet only. Slightly more than one-fourth of the alcohol-involved incidents involved a weapon. Among all alcohol-involved incidents, victims reported firearm use in 9 percent of the cases, whereas firearms were used in 11 percent of violent incidents that were not alcohol related.

Approximately one-third of the alcohol-involved victimizations resulted in an injury to the victim. About one in five victims of violence who perceived the offender to have been using alcohol at the time of the offense (i.e., approximately 400,000 victims per year) suffered a financial loss attributable to medical expenses, broken or stolen property, or lost wages––equaling an annual loss of $400 million (see table 5).

Table 5 Estimated Annual Costs to Victims of Alcohol-Involved Violence by Type of Expense, 1993–1998*

Type of   Expense/Loss	Average Loss   per Victim	Estimated Total   Annual Loss
Total	$1,016	$401,800,000
Medical expenses	2,033	230,400,000
Cash loss	248	10,500,000
Property
Loss	604	49,500,000
Repair	267	32,300,000
Replacement	310	23,000,000
Lost pay from
Injury	711	40,200,000
Other causes	428	15,900,000

*Victims of alcohol-involved violence lost a total of $400 million each year from 1993 to 1998. SOURCE: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–1998.

Total correctional populations	37.6
Probation	39.9
Local jail	39.5
State prison	37.2
Federal prison	20.4
Parole	29.3

Correctional Populations That Used Alcohol During Offense (%)

Percentages of correctional populations estimated to have been using alcohol at the time of their conviction offenses. The correctional populations are categorized by correctional status (e.g., probation, State prison, or parole) during 1998.
SOURCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys of correctional populations.

Alcohol Use Among Convicted Offenders

In addition to victims’ reports of offender substance use, researchers also draw on surveys of offenders concerning their use of alcohol and other drugs in general as well as in relation to a particular offense. The BJS periodically conducts surveys among the Nation’s population of offenders to learn more about their backgrounds.¹ (¹ Unless otherwise noted, surveys cited in this article were conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), U.S. Department of Justice. Additional information about these surveys can be obtained from the BJS. ) Representative samples of probationers and offenders in local jails and in State and Federal prisons are interviewed about their criminal histories, family backgrounds, and numerous elements of their offenses. Among the topics of interest is their use of alcohol, both in the past and at the time of the offense. Such information is not typically available from official records; these surveys provide the only uniform national description of offenders’ use of alcohol. Changes in the extent to which offenders’ self-report alcohol use as a factor in their offenses may be an important indicator of changes in offending.

On an average day in 1998, an estimated 5.7 million convicted offenders were under the supervision of criminal justice authorities. Based on nationally representative sample surveys conducted among probationers (Survey of Adults on Probation, 1996), jail inmates (Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 1996), and prisoners in custody in State and Federal prisons (Surveys of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997), nearly 38 percent of those offenders were drinking at the time of the offenses for which they were convicted.² (² About 4 in 10 murderers in State prison reported that they had been consuming alcohol at the time of the offense. An additional 10 percent reported that only the victim had been drinking alcohol at the time of the homicide.) Unless otherwise noted, surveys cited in this article were conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), U.S. Department of Justice. Additional information about these surveys can be obtained from the BJS. (For information regarding sources of data on alcohol and crime.) This estimate translates into more than 2 million convicted offenders nationwide on an average day—1.4 million on probation, 100,000 in local jails, 460,000 in State and Federal prisons, and more than 200,000 under parole supervision—for whom alcohol might have been a factor in their crimes (see figure).

Percentages of correctional populations estimated to have been using alcohol at the time of their conviction offenses. The correctional populations are categorized by correctional status (e.g., probation, State prison, or parole) during 1998.

SOURCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys of correctional populations.

Offenders on probation and those in jail or State prison reported similar rates of drinking at the time of their offenses. Offenders convicted of public order offenses, such as drinking and driving, weapons offenses, and commercial vice (e.g., prostitution, gambling, or pornography) were the most likely to report alcohol use at the time of the offense (see table 6). Offenders convicted of violent crimes also reported high rates of drinking. For example, more than 40 percent of murderers in jail or State prison reported that they had been drinking at the time of their offenses, and nearly onehalf of those convicted of assault and sentenced to probation had been drinking when the offenses occurred.

Table 6 Convicted Offenders Who Reported Drinking at the Time of Offense, by Offense Type

Current Offender Status (%)

Type of Offense	Probation	Local Jail Inmate	State Prison Inmate	Federal Prison Inmate
All offenses	39.9	39.5	37.2	20.4
Violent offense	40.7	40.6	41.7	24.5
Murder	*	43.7	44.6	38.7
Rape/sexual   assault	31.8	31.5	40.0	32.3
Robbery	*	37.6	37.4	18.0
Assault	45.5	45.4	45.1