Comparison of different indicators of the outcome effectiveness of drunk driver rehabilitation programs

Abstract

There has been a major breakthrough in the last decade in our understanding of the effectiveness of drink driving rehabilitation programs. Three important reviews and evaluations of the effectiveness of such programs have concluded that they have beneficial outcomes and these findings have important implications for those working and researching in this field. These recent outcome findings are in marked contrast to earlier studies in the seventies and eighties. At that time reviews were less than sanguine about benefits and in fact were often pessimistic about the benefits of any intervention other than licence loss and its consequent restriction of driving. It may be argued that the changes in outcome reflect improvements in program sophistication and methods of implementation. However it is probably more likely that they reflect profound changes in the cultural and attitudinal climate of the societies in which drink driving takes place. For example Ross describes the present stage of action in the area of drink driving as the “late stage in the career of a social problem”. He warns that whilst the decrease in alcohol related fatalities may be regarded as the outcome of focussed social concern it may also be a possible deterrent to further levels of action.