Dr Carly Lightowlers (University of Liverpool) makes the case for a public health approach to alcohol-related violence.

Originally presented at the N8 PRP/Liverpool Criminological Research Unit event, Nightlife: Safety, Security, Policing, 21 May 2025. 

Alcohol-related crime in nightlife settings, particularly in the night-time economy (NTE), remains a significant challenge for both public health and criminal justice agencies. The relationship between alcohol consumption and criminal behaviour is multifaceted, and addressing it requires a nuanced understanding of how alcohol affects individuals and communities. While alcohol is often implicated in violent crimes, such as assaults, the issue is far more complex than a straightforward cause-and-effect relationship.

Alcohol in the Nightlife Economy

Nightlife venues, such as bars, pubs, and clubs, tend to attract heavy drinkers and facilitate heavy drinking; both of which increase the likelihood of alcohol-related crime and violence.[i] Research suggests that alcohol is involved in approximately two in every five violent crimes[ii] and 95%  of violent incidents occurring in or around drinking venues (pubs or clubs).[iii] The consequences of alcohol-related crime are wide-ranging, including human, social, and financial costs.

However, the idea that alcohol directly causes violence oversimplifies the issue. Alcohol is not the sole driver of criminal behaviour. Rather, alcohol interacts with a variety of factors, including the individual’s personal characteristics, the context of the crime, and the broader environment.[iv] Alcohol consumption may exacerbate aggressive behaviour, provide “Dutch courage” to individuals seeking to commit violence,[v] or even serve as a coping mechanism for those who have experienced previous victimization.[vi] Moreover, those afflicted with alcohol addiction may find themselves stealing to fund the purchase of alcohol.[vii]

The Complex Role of Alcohol in Crime

Alcohol’s involvement in crime can be divided into two categories: alcohol-defined crimes and alcohol-related crimes. Alcohol-defined crimes are those in which alcohol is a central factor, such as drunk driving. Alcohol-related crimes involve alcohol as a contextual feature of the offense, such as a violent assault that occurs while the perpetrator is intoxicated.

Alcohol can contribute to crime in various ways. It may act as a catalyst for violent behaviour, either by amplifying existing aggression or by lowering inhibitions, leading to impulsive actions. In some cases, alcohol is consumed with the specific intention of enabling violent or predatory behaviour. Additionally, alcohol is often a factor in intimate partner violence, with both perpetrators and victims often suffering from alcohol misuse.[viii] In fact, alcohol is thought to be involved in up to 55% of domestic violence incidents.[ix]

The relationship between alcohol and crime is not uniform. While alcohol is more strongly associated with violent crime than other forms of crime, [x] its impact varies based on the type of crime and the cultural context. For example, alcohol-related violence can manifest as street brawls, assaults in pubs or clubs, or intimate partner violence in domestic settings. The public nature of nightlife violence often draws more attention and resources, yet this focus can obscure the significant alcohol-related violence that occurs in private, such as within homes which is more likely to afflict women and girls.[xi]

Policing the Alcohol Problem

Policing alcohol-related crime is particularly challenging due to the intoxicated state of many offenders, victims, and bystanders in nightlife settings. In the UK, over half of all police work involves alcohol in some capacity, [xii] and between 64% and 88% of individuals in police custody have alcohol use disorders[xiii]. The challenges faced by law enforcement include, but are not limited to, managing intoxicated individuals, gathering evidence, and fulfilling safeguarding duties for vulnerable detainees. Additionally, the frequent overlap of alcohol misuse and mental health issues complicates the response.

Nightlife violence and crime, particularly in city centres, place a strain on emergency services, including the police. The rise of the NTE in the late 20th century, with its emphasis on consumer excess and binge drinking, led to an increase in alcohol-related harm. This period also saw the introduction of policies like the Licensing Act 2003[xiv], which extended alcohol trading hours and inadvertently contributed to the growth of alcohol-related crime. In response, interventions such as Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were introduced, focusing on regulating alcohol consumption in public spaces. However, these measures often overlooked the role of the alcohol industry and marketing practices in fuelling excessive drinking.

Shifting Focus: From Young Drinkers to Broader Patterns of Harm

Given the concerns about binge drinking and street violence that stemmed from this period, policy efforts have tended to focus on the behaviour of young people in nightlife settings. However, recent trends show a decline in alcohol consumption among younger age groups, raising the question of whether alcohol-related violence in nightlife settings is becoming a thing of the past. In fact, figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) show that overall levels of alcohol-related violence have decreased in recent years.[xv]

Yet, a key issue that remains under-addressed is alcohol-related violence against women and girls both in the home and nightlife settings. Despite widespread concerns about sexual predation and alcohol-facilitated assaults, particularly involving intoxicated female victims, the issue has not received the attention it deserves.[xvi] A growing concern over drink-spiking incidents, though often exaggerated, has brought attention to this problem. However, the debate has primarily focused on spiking via drugs, while alcohol remains the most common substance used in nightlife venues to incapacitate victims and facilitate sexual assault.[xvii] Moreover, it emphasises nightlife settings as the primary site of alcohol-related violence against women and girls, when much occurs in the home. Indeed, rates of alcohol-related domestic violence have remained stable in recent years, despite the declines in alcohol-related stranger and acquaintance violence.[xviii] As such dominant policy narratives which focus on street and nightlife crime as well as male-on-male violence do not adequately address broader patterns of harm associated with alcohol-related violence.

The Need for a Public Health Approach and Alcohol’s Reintegration in Crime Prevention Policy

Alcohol-related harm has often been framed as an individual problem, with law enforcement focusing on apprehending “irresponsible” drinkers and criminalizing their behaviour. However, this approach fails to address the broader socio-economic and cultural factors that contribute to alcohol misuse and related violence. As alcohol remains a legally available substance, its impact on crime and public health should be considered from a public health perspective, rather than merely a criminal justice issue.

In recent years, public health approaches aimed at reducing violence have gained traction, but they largely ignore the issue of alcohol-related violence. The UK’s Serious Violence Strategy[xix], for example, focuses on drugs and gang violence, while downplaying alcohol’s role in both serious and domestic violence.[xx] This failure to integrate alcohol-related violence into broader violence prevention efforts perpetuates the invisibility of alcohol as a driver of harm.

Conclusion: Rethinking Alcohol, Crime, and Policing

In conclusion, alcohol’s pervasive role in crime—particularly in nightlife settings—requires a more nuanced and comprehensive approach from policing. While it is often framed as a problem of individual behaviour, the broader social, economic, and cultural factors contributing to alcohol misuse must be addressed. A shift towards a public health-based approach to alcohol-related violence could lead to more effective prevention strategies, focusing not just on individual offenders but on changing the environment that enables excessive drinking and alcohol-related harm. The challenges associated with alcohol-related violence have, however, been ‘conveniently forgotten’ (in favour of policy focusing on drugs markets and separating out ‘serious’ violence and Violence Against Women and Girls) precluding meaningful consideration of alcohol’s role in so many crimes and alcohol often being the connecting thread across these disparate crimes, between public and private. Moreover, interventions which potentially further criminalise alcohol users continue to be introduced (for example in piloting of alcohol tagging as part of policy cautioning^[xxi]). However, until a broader approach is adopted, alcohol will continue to pose a significant challenge for policing and public health, with far-reaching implications for both crime and societal well-being.

[i] https://www.ias.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Crime-and-disorder-in-the-night-time-economy.pdf

[ii] Office for National Statistics (2023) The nature of violent crime in England and Wales: Year ending March 2023; Table 9a. London: Office for National Statistics.

[iii] CSEW year ending march 2024, Table 6 Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/thenatureofviolentcrimeappendixtables

[iv] Graham K, Leonard K, Room R, Wild C, Pihl R, Bois C and Single E (1998). Current directions in research on understanding and preventing intoxicated aggression. Addiction 93(5): 659-676.

[v] Bellis, M., Hughes, K., & Anderson, Z. (2007). Youth violence, alcohol, and nightlife: Violence Prevention Alliance Fact Sheet 1. Geneva: World Health Organization; Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Korf, D., & Tossman, K. (2005). Violence in general places of entertainment. In Drugs and Alcohol: Violence and Insecurity (pp. 57–96). Strasbourg: Pompidou Centre of the Council for Europe; Sumner M and Parker H (1995). Low in Alcohol: a review of international research into alcohol’s role in crime causation. London: The Portman Group

[vi] Plant M, Plant M and Thornton C (2002). People and places: some factors in the alcohol-violence link. Journal of Substance Use 7(4): 207-213; McVeigh C, Hughes K, Bellis MA, Reed E, Ashton J and Syed Q (2005). Violent Britain: people, prevention and public health. Liverpool: Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University.

[vii] Bennett, T. H. and Holloway, K. R. (2005) Understanding Drugs, Alcohol and Crime. Buckingham: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press; Bennett, T. and Holloway, K. (2010). Drug and Alcohol-Related Crime. In F. Brookman, M. Maguire, H. Pierpoint, & T. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook on Crime. Willan. Chapter 29, pp. 579-597.

[viii] Abramsky, T., Watts, C. H., Garcia-Moreno, C., Devries, K., Kiss, L., Ellsberg, M., & Heise, L. (2011). What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? Findings from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 109; Cafferky, B. M., Mendez, M., Anderson, J. R., & Stith, S. M. (2018). Substance use and intimate partner violence: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of Violence, 8(1), 110–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000074; Graham, K., Bernards, S., Wilsnack, S. C., & Gmel, G. (2011). Alcohol may not cause partner violence but it seems to make it worse: A cross-national comparison of the relationship between alcohol and severity of partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 1503–1523; Leonard, K. (2005). Alcohol and intimate partner violence: When can we say that drinking is a cause of violence? Editorial. Addiction, 100, 422–425; Leonard, K. E., & Quigley, B. M. (2017). Thirty years of research show alcohol to be a cause of intimate partner violence: Future research needs to identify who to treat and how to treat them. Drug and Alcohol Review, 36, 7–9.

[ix] Bennett, L. and Bland, P. (2008). Substance abuse and intimate partner violence. Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, 16; World Health Organization (2006). WHO factsheet: Youth Violence and Alcohol. Geneva: World Health Organization.

[x] Bennett, T. H. and Holloway, K. R. (2005) Understanding Drugs, Alcohol and Crime. Buckingham: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press; Bennett, T. and Holloway, K. (2010). Drug and Alcohol-Related Crime. In F. Brookman, M. Maguire, H. Pierpoint, & T. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook on Crime. Willan. Chapter 29, pp. 579-597; Dingwall, G. (2006), Alcohol and Crime. Willan Publishing; Felson, R. B., & Staff, J. (2010). The Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Violent Versus Other Offending. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37(12), 1343-1360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854810382003.

[xi] Lightowlers C. and Duke K. (2024). The framing of contemporary violence policy in England and Wales: An examination of the contributing roles of alcohol and illegal drugs. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.0(0). doi:10.1177/14550725241256465; Wilson I.M., Lightowlers C. and Bryant L. (2022). Home drinking during and post-COVID-19: Why the silence on domestic violence? Drug and Alcohol Review 42(5):1013-1017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dar.13572

[xii] The Institute of Alcohol Studies. 2015. Alcohol’s impact on emergency services. http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/Alcohols_impact_on_emergency_services_full_report.pdf

[xiii] Newbury-Birch, D., McGovern, R., Birch, J., O’Neill, G., Kaner, H., Sondhi, A. and Lynch, K. 2016. A rapid systematic review of what we know about alcohol use disorders and brief interventions in the criminal justice system. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 12(1), p.57 <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26933993>

[xiv] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/contents

[xv] https://www.ias.org.uk/2023/02/27/patterns-in-alcohol-related-violence-exploring-recent-declines-in-alcohol-related-violence-in-england-and-wales/

[xvi] Wilson I.M., Lightowlers C. and Bryant L. (2022). Home drinking during and post-COVID-19: Why the silence on domestic violence? Drug and Alcohol Review 42(5):1013-1017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dar.13572

[xvii] Abbey, A., Zawacki, T., Buck, P. O., Clinton, A. M., & McAuslan, P. (2001). Alcohol and sexual assault. Alcohol Research & Health, 25(1), 43–51. PMID: 11496965; PMCID: PMC4484576; Abbey, A., Ross, L. T., McDuffie, D., & McAuslan, P. (1996). Alcohol, misperception, and sexual assault: How and why are they linked? In D. M. Buss & N. Malamuth (Eds.), Sex, Power, Conflict: Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives (pp. 138–161). New York: Oxford University Press; Finch, E., & Munro, V. E. (2007). The demon drink and the demonized woman: Socio-sexual stereotypes and responsibility attribution in rape trials involving intoxicants. Social & Legal Studies, 16(4), 591–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663907082737

[xviii] https://www.ias.org.uk/2023/02/27/patterns-in-alcohol-related-violence-exploring-recent-declines-in-alcohol-related-violence-in-england-and-wales/

[xix] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-violence-strategy

[xx] Lightowlers C. and Duke K. (2024). The framing of contemporary violence policy in England and Wales: An examination of the contributing roles of alcohol and illegal drugs. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.0(0). doi:10.1177/14550725241256465

[xxi] https://www.scramsystems.com/scram-blog/uk-police-and-bbc-trial-scram-continuous-alcohol-monitoring/  

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