A Behavioral Intervention Program for Chronic Public Drunkenness Offenders
- 1 July 1975
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of General Psychiatry
- Vol. 32 (7), 915-918
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760250107012
Abstract
A reinforcement contingency management system for ten chronic public drunkenness offenders was evaluated for short-term effects. Chronic inebriates were provided with required goods and services through skid row community agencies contingent on their sobriety. Intoxication resulted in a five-day suspension of all goods and services. Excessive drinking behavior was assessed by direct observations of intoxication and by randomly administered breath alcohol analyses. As a result of this intervention, subjects substantially decreased their number of public drunkenness arrests and their alcohol consumption, and increased their number of hours employed. No such changes were observed in a control group that received services on a noncontingent basis. Longer-term research studies of one to two years rather than a few months would be required before any widespread use of this approach would be warranted.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
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