Alcohol Related Crime & Disorder
Home Office Research & Statistics

The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (Cabinet Office, 2004) highlighted the costs to society of alcohol-related crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour. It placed particular emphasis on the problem of binge drinking which was defined as ‘drinking to get drunk’. This report investigates further the relationship between alcohol consumption and offending amongst young adults.

Title: Alcohol-Related Crime and Disorder
Author: Home Office Research Development and Statistics
Date published: June 2005
Number of pages: 6
Availability: Download full report (PDF 100Kb)

• Prevalence of binge drinking
  44% of young adults (18- to 24-year-olds) were identified as binge drinkers (i.e. they felt very drunk at least once a month). This group was more likely to binge drink than any other age group. Young males were more likely to binge drink (49%) than young females (39%).
  
  
• Binge drinking and general offending
  Binge drinkers were more likely to offend than other regular drinkers. Among 18 - to 24 - year-olds, 27% of binge drinkers admitted they had committed an offence in the past 12 months compared with 13% of other regular drinkers.
  
  
• Young male binge drinkers were more than twice as likely to commit a violent offence (16%) than other young male regular drinkers (7%).
  
  
• Young adult binge drinkers committed a disproportionate amount of the total number of crimes. 18- to 24-year-old binge drinkers accounted for only 6% of the total adult sample, but they committed 30% of all crimes reported by adults in the past 12 months, and 24% of all violent incidents.