The Generality of Deviance by Travis Hirschi

Author:Travis Hirschi [Hirschi, Travis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351294423
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2018-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

7

Driving Under the Influence

George C. Strand Jr. and Michael S. Garr

Today, the general public views driving under the influence (DUI) as a serious crime—serious in terms of its prevalance and its consequences (Gusfield 1988; Jacobs 1989). In 1986 there was approximately one arrest for DUI for every eighty-eight licensed drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that perhaps as many as a quarter million persons were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes over the last ten years. “For many years, people interested in highway safety in the United States have been aware of two virtually unchanging statistics. First, approximately 50,000 lives are lost each year as a result of highway crashes and, second, about half the fatal crashes involve the presence of significant amounts of alcohol in the driver’s blood” (Ross 1984:24). More than 650,000 persons are injured in drug related crashes every year. The annual cost in property damage, medical costs, and other costs of drunk driving may total more than $24 billion (Greenfeld 1988).

This chapter seeks to show that the extant scholarship on drinking and driving lacks theoretical direction. After reviewing the literature, a theory, based on the rational choice paradigm and classical assumptions of human nature, is offered as a plausible guiding theory to explain DUI and related behaviors. Developed by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), the theory posits that low self-control (acts that satisfy immediate gratification, without concern for long-term consequences) is the general cause of criminal and deviant behavior. To test this theory we employed a sample of high school seniors. Self-report questionnaires provided data on DUI and related behaviors. The theory was then reassessed in terms of the findings, and its implications for DUI research elaborated.

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