A successful intervention for road offences
As we come near the festive season, it is a relief to know that there will be a new and working form of intervention to help keep our roads safe.
This is according to Jacques Sibomana, communication and marketing manager of National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro).
“With the help of South African Breweries, Nicro has launched a unique Alcohol and Road Offence Programme (ROPP) to tackle the challenges of reckless and drunk driving,” says Sibomana.
“ROPP has shown early indicators of success. Since inception, the programme has successfully worked with hundreds of road offence offenders reaching more than 1 000 perpetrators referred by the criminal justice system.
“A growing number of guilty find the programme useful and has been able to transform and change their behaviour.”
Sibomana says the first alcohol and road offences initiative has been piloted in and around Cape Town, with the purpose to have a positive influence on reducing drunk driving and keeping South Africans safe on the road.
“Not only has this venture reduced the workload and lessened the burden on the formal criminal justice system, but it has demonstrated that a bigger nuanced intervention as a response to drunken driving has more chance of meeting success.
“It has also redefined the definition of success, looking at not only retributive responses such as fines or jail time, but also to behavioural approaches with the aim of building knowledge, cultivating insight and changing offender behaviour with a view to reducing reoffending, and therefore, making our roads and country safer.
“Another aspect of the early success of the ROPP programme is its demonstration of partnership between public-private non-profit entities. In this model government, through its criminal justice apparatus, is not expected to shoulder the burden of crime and consequences of wrong-doing by itself.
“Private entities, such as corporate SAB, assume accountability for unintended consequences of the irresponsible use of its product, and the NPO demonstrates its expertise and effectiveness in implementing impactful behaviour change programmes.”
“Nicro believes that prison is not necessarily the best option for offenders who have been convicted of driving under the influence.
“Sending such offenders to prison simply exacerbates the problem. The latest initiative allows suitable DUI offenders who have been found guilty, and sentenced, to participate in this special educational, therapeutic programme and carry out their sentences in the community.
“Although the consequences of the drunken driving offence will not involve going to prison, such offenders will have a criminal record.
“In addition to incorporating a powerful educational and awareness component, this needs-driven intervention also manages risks and addresses the behaviours that caused the drunken driving offence in the first place.”
Nicro’s CEO, Soraya Solomon, says: “If we are to fight DUI in a meaningful way, we cannot simply punish those driving under the influence without addressing faulty thinking patterns and the behaviours, which result because of this.
“Not only do offenders avoid going to trial, possible incarceration and a criminal record; they are afforded a opportunity to change cognitive distortions (faulty thinking) and unacceptable behaviour, repair the damage they have caused and acquire fundamental life skills to avoid further problems with alcohol.
David Frost, deputy director: Road Safety Management at Department of Community Safety says: “The programme is a form of very creative justice, in that it gives accused persons an opportunity to reflect positively on their wrongdoing and, thus, prevent possible similar future acts that could have had more devastating consequences for them and other road users.”
Nicro Deputy CEO and Research and Development director, Celia Dawson says: “Participation in this alcohol and road offences initiative has allowed the offender to discover the risks and consequences of alcohol abuse, uncover faulty thinking patterns and, therefore, change these cognitive distortions and subsequent behaviours.
“The risk factors associated with driving under the influence are also effectively managed and reduced, and where possible, eliminated. Favourable attitudes, fresh insights and new crucial life-skills equip the offender to steer clear of further problems with alcohol abuse and run-ins with the law.”
Sibomana says that alcohol is the most commonly abused substance in South Africa and is closely associated with risky sexual behaviour and road accidents.
“Alcohol abuse also impacts negatively on the high levels of crime and violence in the country. Drunk driving, in particular, is one of the greatest threats to road safety in our country, with research indicating that at least 50 per cent of people who die on the roads have a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit,” says Sibomana.
