Effectiveness Bank Bulletin [Alcohol screening & brief interventions in criminal justice settings]

1. Screening for alcohol use in criminal justice settings: an exploratory study. Coulton S., Newbury-Birch D., Cassidy P. et al. Alcohol and Alcoholism: 2012, 47(4), p. 423–427. At English prisons, police stations and probation offices, offenders and arrestees in this study usually scored as at least hazardous drinkers and over half as problematic on a drink problem survey; nearly all would have been identified by a much briefer screening method usually requiring just a single question. 2. Alcohol screening and brief intervention in a policing context: a mixed methods feasibility study. Brown N., Newbury-Birch D., McGovern R. et al. Drug and Alcohol Review: 2010, 29, p. 647–654. Risky drinking was widespread among the disorder and assault suspects screened for alcohol problems and (as indicated) offered brief advice by civilian staff at a police station in north east England, but they constituted just a quarter of the arrestees intended to have been screened. 3.Delivering alcohol brief interventions in the community justice setting: evaluation of a pilot project. Skellington Orr K., McCoard S., Canning S. et al. NHS Health Scotland, 2011. Though drinking problems were widespread, Scottish probation and community service staff were unconvinced of the appropriateness of screening their offender clients for risky drinking and (if indicated) offering brief advice. Not a priority, was the common feeling