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Access Denied: The Relationship between Alcohol Prohibition and Driving under the Influence
Author(s) -
Powers Edward L.,
Wilson Janet K.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.2004.00094.x
Subject(s) - situational ethics , driving under the influence , law enforcement , criminology , enforcement , drunk driving , suicide prevention , poison control , alcohol consumption , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , crime prevention , psychology , law , political science , environmental health , alcohol , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry
Alcohol prohibition continues to be a policy pursued by more than 10 percent of the counties in the United States. However, many questions exist about the effectiveness of prohibition policies for controlling social maladies such as accidents and fatal injuries related to driving under the influence (DUI). In this research, a situational crime prevention framework is used to evaluate the hypothetical relationship between countywide alcohol prohibition and incidents of DUI. We focus specifically on county‐level comparisons of DUI arrests in Arkansas where slightly more than half of the counties are “dry” (sale of alcohol to the general public is prohibited). Utilizing police reports of DUI arrests we examine whether the dry county distinction is indeed associated with fewer DUI arrests than found in wet counties. Findings indicate that the dry county distinction does not result in significantly lower rates of DUI arrest when law enforcement variables are considered. These findings are analyzed and implications for future research are discussed.