Advisory Committee Chair
Shelley McGrath
Advisory Committee Members
Melencia Johnson
Suzanne E Perumean-Chaney
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2015
Degree Name by School
Master of Science in Criminal Justice (MSCJ) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the state differences in arrest rates according to risk preference, and policy and sanction severity. The effects of policy and sanction severity on drinking and driving have been an increasing topic of discussion and study in both the political and scholarly world since the 1980s. This paper seeks to address the differences in state-level policies and sanctions concerning DUIs, focusing on the impact of punishment severity on DUI arrest rates. Results show that being located in the Western region of the United States has a significant positive effect on DUI arrest rates. The results additionally show that increasing punishment severity may inversely increase DUI occurrences. Further research is required using individual characteristic information to ascertain the results of the study.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Kimberly, "Examining Punishment Severity: The Effect of State Sanctioning on DUI Arrest Rates" (2015). All ETDs from UAB. 3344.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/3344