KEY POINTS:
"Jack has 125 previous convictions from the age of 22," writes Wellington alcohol and drug counsellor Roger Brooking in a report to a court on a recent client (name changed).
"He also had another six convictions at age 17 for which he was sent to corrective training for three months. His offending history indicates he has been sent to prison at least 25 times and Jack reports that he has spent most of his life in prison.
"Jack meets the DSM IV criteria for dependence on alcohol. He has a loss of control over how much he drinks, has developed a high level of tolerance and has a preoccupation with obtaining it, using it and recovering from its effects. He also meets the criteria for dependence on cannabis in partial remission.
"A contributing factor in Jack's offending is that despite appearing in court with alcohol and drug-related offending for 27 years, it appears that the court has never required him to attend a residential treatment programme. It also appears that despite being incarcerated on 25 separate occasions in those 27 years, the Corrections Department has not required him to attend a specialised alcohol and drug treatment programme in prison.
"The latest research indicates that residential alcohol and drug treatment in the community reduces reoffending by up to 43 per cent. Treatment in prison reduces reoffending by between 13 per cent and 30 per cent. By failing to require Jack to attend residential treatment for 27 years, both the Justice Department and the Corrections Department must therefore incur some responsibility for his continued reoffending."
Mr Brooking is so angry about the justice system's failure to help offenders with alcohol and drug problems that he has written a book to expose it.
The role of alcohol in crime is clear. The Police Alcohol Action Plan quotes overseas research showing that 50 to 70 per cent of police work is alcohol-related.
A study of youth offenders referred for mental health assessments in Wellington from 2000 to 2004 found that 70 per cent had alcohol or cannabis issues, with 14 per cent classed as alcohol-dependent.
A police monitor of adult offenders at four trial sites around the country in 2006 found that 81 per cent had drunk alcohol in the previous month, 21 per cent had been drinking when they were arrested and 15 per cent were alcohol-dependent.
A mental health survey of prisoners in 1999 found that 70 per cent of female prisoners and 75 per cent of males had suffered from alcohol abuse or dependence some time in their lives.
Yet Ministry of Justice figures supplied to Mr Brooking show that courts order only 5 per cent of offenders to see an alcohol or drug counsellor.
"Even when alcohol is clearly a factor - as with the 25,000 drink-driving convictions which occur each year - judges still order only 5 per cent of such offenders to attend an assessment," he says.
Christine Kalin, the chief executive of Auckland's Odyssey House which treats many offenders, says many of her clients have never had any career except crime, so catching them early could help to change their lives.
"Most have under-achieved at school, they don't have formal qualifications and they don't have a longstanding employment history," she says. "I tell people we are not in the business of rehabilitation, we are in the business of habilitation. It's not just about alcohol and drug problems, it's about increasing their employability, it's about increasing their social functioning."
