Violence and crime

Gone but not forgotten: Why was the Northern Territory’s Minimum Unit Price removed?

Why has Australia's Northern Territory ended its Minimum Unit Pricing policy? And do the arguments the governing Country Liberal Party (CLP) made against the policy...

Do alcohol ‘sobriety tags’ reduce reoffending?

A new study has found that so-called 'sobriety tags' may reduce reoffending. However, study author Dr Lightowlers urges caution about tagging, arguing that tackling underlying...

Alcohol and Homicide: A Sobering Look at Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean have some of the highest rates of homicide in the world, as well as high rates of risky drinking. A...

Can alcohol control policies reduce family and domestic violence?

In this blog, Michala Kowalski explains how reducing trading hours in the city of Newcastle (Austalia) led to a 29% reduction in family and domestic...

Limits on bar/tavern hours of sale: an important tool in a violence prevention toolbox?

Alcohol plays a significant role in many violent incidents. So what happened to violence rates when a neighbourhood in Maryland reduced the hours of sale...

Isolating and Examining Off-Trade Availability and Violence

The closure of on-trade alcohol outlets during periods of the pandemic gave a unique research opportunity: to understand the impact of such closures on the...

Can alcohol duties be used to reduce the rate of violence injury?

Changes to alcohol duty at each year's Budget has been found to be causally linked to the rate of violent injury rates. Here Professor Kent...

Patterns in alcohol-related violence: exploring recent declines in alcohol-related violence in England and Wales

Alcohol-related violence seems to have fallen over the past ten years. Here Lucy Bryant delves into the data to reveal more about these trends.

How does the Late Night Levy spur change in the night-time economy?

The Late Night Levy is a fee paid by alcohol retailers in some areas open after midnight, which is used to fund police and licensing...

Alcohol and gender: Thinking beyond the binary

A new study assessing alcohol use, reduction and harm among trans and non-binary people is looking to recruit study participants. Read the blog for further...

Sentencing people to sobriety and coerced alcohol abstinence

Dr Carly Lightowlers questions the efficacy of 'sobriety ankle tags' and draws attention to a number of considerations of this reactionary policy, particularly around the...

Has MUP in Scotland reduced alcohol-related crime in the first 21 months? Reflections on an evaluation

A recent report suggested Scotland's minimum unit pricing has done little to reduce alcohol-related crime. Dr Lightowlers and Ms Bryant look at the limitations of...

What COVID-19 restrictions tell us about violence and how alcohol availability affects this

The 2020 coronavirus lockdowns gave researchers in Cardiff a rare opportunity to look at how alcohol-related violence in and out of homes changed compared to...

Alcohol-related violence: a summary of research presented at the 2021 British Society of Criminology conference

In England and Wales, approximately two in five violent incidents are alcohol-related, posing a huge cost to the police, justice system, and healthcare. Here Olivia...

Revoking the ‘License to Drink’: Emerging evidence on mandatory sobriety

Could 24/7 programs solve lingering questions about who gets the right to drink?

Inequalities in alcohol-related violence victimisation and what we should do about it

Lucy Bryant presents evidence-based recommendations for how to reduce the harmful effects of inequalities in which alcohol plays a role

Evaluating the effect of individual alcohol licensing decisions on local health and crime

Licensing authority control of alcohol availability can have a positive impact on health and crime in a local vicinity

Sobriety bracelets: The new ‘must have’ criminal justice accessory?

Dr Laura Bainbridge discusses the implications of UK politicians tagging on to the South Dakota model of enforced sobriety

Alcohol control policies and alcohol-related traffic harm in Lithuania: a short summary of a success story

Mindaugas Štelemėkas chronicles the country's recent developments in alcohol policy

Young risky drinkers: overrepresented as victims and perpetrators of alcohol’s harms to others

Evidence highlights human cost of alcohol-related violence triggered by risky drinking behaviours