Offenders who misuse alcohol ‘do not get enough support’

Offenders who drink harmfully are not offered as much support as those who use illegal drugs even though alcohol misuse is a bigger cause of crime and ill health. This is the main conclusion of a report, A Label for Exclusion, by Rob Fitzpatrick and Laura Thorne of the Centre for Mental Health.

The report explains that six out of ten male and four out of ten female sentenced prisoners in England are harmful or hazardous drinkers. Almost half of probation clients are recorded as having an alcohol problem. And alcohol is a factor in three-quarters of cases of domestic violence and more than half of assaults.

Yet A Label for Exclusion finds that there is inadequate support for offenders who misuse alcohol at all levels, from basic screening and advice to specialist counselling and treatment programmes.

The policy paper is based on research carried out in the South West of England to assess the support that is offered to offenders who misuse alcohol and to find examples of good practice that could be taken up more widely. A Label for Exclusion makes ten recommendations. It calls for commissioners of health and justice services to come together to pool their limited resources for offenders who misuse alcohol and involve service users in planning the support they offer. It says all front line workers, such as police officers and GPs, should have basic skills in recognising alcohol misuse and referring people on to specialist services if they need them. And it calls for good quality alcohol support to be available to people at any point in the criminal justice system, from first contact with the police, to courts, prisons and probation services.

Centre for Mental Health joint Chief Executive, Professor Sean Duggan, said: “Having a diagnosis of alcohol dependency or misuse is too often a label for exclusion from both health and drug treatment services. For people in the criminal justice system this exclusion can have a devastating impact.

“We have found in the South West a number of impressive examples of services who have responded creatively and sensitively to the challenge of offering better support to offenders who misuse alcohol despite the lack of policy support to do this. We hope that the Government will create a more conducive environment to improve responses at all levels and for all who need more help to manage their alcohol use and offending.”

Public Health South West policy lead, Dr Ruth Shakespeare, said:

“Alcohol misuse is a major public health issue across England, costing some £23 billion a year, more than half of it in the costs of crime.

“I am delighted that commissioners, providers and individual workers across the South West have taken the initiative to offer improved support to offenders who misuse alcohol. This not only improves the health of offenders but also reduces crime and makes communities safer - everyone benefits.”

The research for the paper was commissioned by the Department of Health South West.