Chronic Alcoholic Court Offenders: An Alternative to the Drunk Tank

Authors

• Jack H. Watson, Jr, Steering Committee on Treatment and Rehabilitation of Chronic Alcoholic Court Offenders, Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb Counties

Publication Date

1968

Abstract

T HE social problem of alcoholism may be divided into two categories: (1) that of the "visible" alcoholic or "chronic alcoholic court offender" whose illness is manifested hundreds of thousands of times per year either on city streets, or in countless city and county stockades acoss the country; and (2) that of the "invisible" alcoholic whose illness is just as serious, but whose social and economic position permits him to suffer through years of alcoholism without being arrested or taken before a magistrate for being drunk in public. It is estimated that over 6,500,000 persons in the United States are alcoholics.' Of that number approximately 250,OQO to 500,000 are chronic alcoholics who are either public charges or persistent court offenders. Accordingly, the measurable impact of alcoholism in the United States is staggering. For example, recent findings of research studies on the incidence and effects of alcoholism indicate that: 50% of all first admissions in mental hospitals suffer from alcoholism; 28% of males in mental hospitals are chronic alcoholics; 30% -40% of all delinquent youths come from homes where parental excessive drinking or alcoholism exists; 50% of delinquent drivers involved in fatal automobile accidents are alcoholics. 49% of all police arrests are for alcoholic related offenses, 63% of these involved alcoholics. 37% of all suicide subjects are chronic alcoholics.

Recommended Citation

Watson,, Jack H. Jr (1968) "Chronic Alcoholic Court Offenders: An Alternative to the Drunk Tank," Georgia Law Review: Vol. 3: No. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol3/iss1/5