A label for exclusion

Support for alcohol-misusing offenders

Rob Fitzpatrick and Laura Thorne

4 January 2011

The development of alcohol interventions for offenders is a challenging area with implications for both health and criminal justice agencies. Effective responses are complicated by the fact that, unlike drugs, the use of alcohol is both legal and widely socially sanctioned and that there are complex links between alcohol misuse and offending.

This policy paper identifies areas and practical examples of how, in a changing and uncertain policy and commissioning landscape, the joint commissioning and delivery of alcohol interventions for offenders in the community might be productively developed.

It has been produced in partnership with the Department of Health South West and based on extensive interviews and focus groups within the South West, with input from central policy leads.

Audience: Commissioners, services and practitioners.