Citation

Waldmann T, Henderson P. Ir. J. Psychol. 1992; 13(2): 258-263.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Irish Journal Of Psychology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The German Federal Ministry for Road Transport (BASt) published a five-year evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment for persistent drink-drivers in Germany. Convicted drink-drivers who received treatment relapsed significantly less often than comparable drink-drivers who had not received treatment. The treatment was conducted by psychologists who had different theoretical orientations. However, success rates did not differ between these psychological 'schools'. It is therefore likely that the success of the various treatments depended on what the treatments had in common. All treatments provided a similar information package to the course participants, but the informative content of the courses was unlikely to have been sufficient to have changed the rigid perceptions of the course participants. The convicted drink-drivers had to be given the opportunity to compare themselves with their peers, and they had to be given couselling of one form or another for the information provided to sink in.