Alcohol and offending
- In 2007/8 an estimated £17.2million was spent on criminal justice social work for alcohol-related crimes, and the estimated cost to the criminal justice system in response to alcohol specific crime is between £86.2 million and £197.3 million. (These statistics have not been recalculated since 2007/8 and therefore the true current figure is likely much higher)
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- In 2019, four in ten prisoners who completed a questionnaire reported being drunk at the time of their offence (40%)1.
- Nearly one fifth (19%) were worried that alcohol would be a problem for them when they get out of prison.
- Almost one third of prisoners (33%) admitted that their drinking affected their relationship with their family and almost one in five (19%) reported that drinking affected their ability to hold down a job.
- 41% of participants said that if they were offered help for their alcohol use disorder (both inside and outside of prison) that they would take it. However, only 22% of participants reported that they had been given the chance to receive treatment for an alcohol use disorder during their sentence (down from 25% in 2015 and 23% in 2017).
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Inequalities in the justice system
People in the justice system and prisons experience high levels of disadvantage, including trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences and mental health conditions:
- 25% of people in Scottish prisons are care-experienced
- 47% have experienced physical abuse in childhood2, and
- around a third (34%) of people lived with someone who was a problematic drinker during childhood.
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A 2022 study commissioned by the Scottish Government found that the prevalence of mental health needs is significantly higher in prisons than in the general population.
There are also significant disadvantages in the prison population in other areas, namely: housing, finance, and health literacy.
A study published in 2011 found that people with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are also over-represented in the justice system.
Research has also shown that people in the justice system additionally experience high levels of other health conditions and poorer overall wellbeing than in comparison to the general population.
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Prisoners and AUDIT scores
The Scottish Prisoner Survey 2019 included the 10-item questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Learn more about AUDIT: How to screen | Diagnosis | Alcohol – problem drinking | CKS | NICE
- Among prisoners who completed the 2019 AUDIT assessment, 16% reported drinking alcohol twice or three times a week, with 18% reporting drinking alcohol four or more times weekly (representing little change from the 2017 survey, which recorded 18% for both indicators)).
- 45% of prisoners reported drinking seven or more drinks (on a typical day where they do drink alcohol), with 38% reporting they drink six or more drinks on one occasion at least weekly.
- Among prisoners who completed the 2017 AUDIT assessment, 63% had an alcohol use disorder. Just under one third (31%) were classed as possibly alcohol dependent, 27% were hazardous drinkers and 6% were harmful drinkers. There are no directly comparable figures on the general population in Scotland, but figures published from 2019 and 2021 in the Scottish Health Survey indicate less than 2% of the general population were classed as possibly alcohol dependant or harmful drinkers.
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- For Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABIs) in justice settings, delivery sits at about 29% in prison and 3% in police custody (based on 2019/20 data when assuming 63% of individuals have an alcohol use disorder).
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Alcohol (In)justice Position Statement
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