Alcohol and crime
DOUZENIS A.
Assistant Professor in Forensic Psychiatry. Athens University Medical School, 2nd Psychiatry Department, "Attikon" Hospital

Alcohol addiction is an ever-expanding problem in the world that results in great loss of quality of life, health and expenditure. Individuals addicted to alcohol are prone to violent acts. Violent crimes are often committed under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol's relation to violence is not simple or linear. There are many theories trying to explain this relationship. Namely, the "neurobiological", the theory of "social learning", the theory associating alcohol use and early violent experiences in the family, the theory that alcohol use "narrows" the way individuals under the influence explain social cues, and the theory associating alcohol and violence with personality disorders. Alcohol and the typology of alcohol addiction is discussed in order to further elucidate its association with crime. The concept of pathological intoxication is evaluated in the light of recent research. Furthermore, as is known, adolescence is a crucial developmental period as well as the period where individuals start their "alcohol career". Adolescence is the period where alcohol addiction and abuse prevention is most important. Adolescents use alcohol in order to overcome feelings of anxiety and this use can be dangerous, harmful and violent. Adulthood and its association with alcohol abuse and crime is well established. This review will present some data for violent crimes underlying this relationship. More specifically the issues of alcohol addiction abuse and violence in the workplace and in the family will be analyzed. Alcohol is firmly related to abuse and violence in the family setting. Family violence and abuse is known to be strongly associated with psychiatric morbidity, personality disorders and addiction. Concluding, it should always be borne in mind that alcohol is associated not only with violence towards others but even more importantly with violence against the self. Alcohol's association with self-destructive behaviour is stronger that the association of alcohol and crime. Encephalos 2009, 46(2):79-83.

Key words: Alcohol, crime, violence.