Treating alcohol-related violence: A feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial in prisons. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology

Anger Management

May 2021

Full Citation

Bowes, N., McMurran, M., Evans, C. Oatley, G., Williams, B., & Siriol, D. (2014). Treating alcohol-related violence: A feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial in prisons. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 25(2), 152-163. Retrieved from www.otseeker.com

Abstract

Purpose: There is a lack of good-quality outcome evaluations of interventions for offenders whose crimes are alcohol-related. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered gold standard in treatment evaluations. Here, we report on a feasibility study for an RCT of an alcohol-related violence intervention, Control of Violence for Angry, Impulsive Drinkers (COVAID). Method: 115 adult male prisoners were randomly allocated to COVAID plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU only. Results: Most participants (84%) found COVAID useful. Reconviction data at six months were accessed for 109 (95%) participants. There were no differences between the two groups on violent reconvictions or all reconvictions at the six-month period, but at 17 months the COVAID group had 13% fewer people reconvicted for violence, and 20% fewer had reconvictions for any offence. Conclusion: The results indicate that an RCT is feasible and provides parameters for designing a full RCT. Differences in reconviction between groups favoured COVAID and were clinically important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved); ; If this record is indexed on MEDLINE you may be able to obtain the full text of this article by visiting the PubMed web site (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/citmatch.html).