Alcohol and Homicide: Interviews with Prison Inmates

Abstract

In 1989 and 1990 interviews were conducted with 268 homicide offenders incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities for homicides that occurred in 1984. The primary purpose of these interviews was to obtain the offenders' own perspectives as to the drug relatedness of these homicides. In this article we report on data obtained during these interviews focusing on the relationship between alcohol and homicide. We show how interviews with prison inmates overcome some of the problems that exist with studies of the alcohol-homicide connection that rely on official record data. Among our findings are that 19% of the homicides were reported to be related to alcohol use, that the majority of these cases involved arguments or disputes, and that in about half of these cases the respondent was high on at least one other substance. We also examine the “alcohol-related” cases from the perspective of a tripartite conceptual framework that specifies the variety of ways that drugs and violence can be related. The methodological and policy implications of our findings are also discussed.