Premium
Alcohol‐Impaired Driving in Norway and Sweden: Another Look at “The Scandinavian Myth”
Author(s) -
SNORTUM JOHN R.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1984.tb00313.x
Subject(s) - circumstantial evidence , deterrence (psychology) , deterrence theory , mythology , internal consistency , consistency (knowledge bases) , criminology , history , positive economics , psychology , political science , law , economics , developmental psychology , psychometrics , geometry , mathematics , classics
Ross's (1975) assessment of the Scandinavian drinking‐and‐driving laws was a pivotal paper in the international literature because, in many ways, Norway and Sweden offer a critical test of the “tough approach” to deterring alcohol‐ impaired drivers. The present review raises some methodological and philosophical questions about Ross's approach to the Scandinavian data and examines four types of indirect evidence for deterrence in Norway and Sweden. While no conclusive evidence for deterrence could be identified, there was internal consistency in the pattern of circumstantial evidence pointing to a workable system of external restraints and internal controls in Scandinavia; and this pattern of evidence contrasted sharply with that obtained in the U.S.