The research and practitioner literature has generally established that frequent, well-publicized sobriety checkpoint programs produce reductions in drunk driving and related social ills through increasing the perceived risk of apprehension in the general population. As such, the accepted measure of whether a checkpoint program 'works' is general deterrence. However, infrequent sobriety checkpoint programs do not produce general deterrence and there is no established alternative for defining the effectiveness of such programs. Given that infrequent checkpoint programs are a fiscal reality in many locations, we argue for a simple specific deterrence metric for monitoring the impact of such programs. Specifically we compare the mean number of Driving Under the Influence arrests on checkpoint days versus non-checkpoint days. We use data from a police department in the Upper Midwest to demonstrate the practical use of such a metric and discuss the implications for maintaining such programs or shifting resources towards saturation patrols.

This study examines the effect of neighborhood, school, and family indicators on adolescent drinking. The Toronto Drugs, Alcohol, and Violence International (DAVI) data were collected in 2001-2002. The sample was stratified both by region (city vs. outskirts) and by the socio-economic status of the schools. Two schools from each stratum were randomly selected and 910 students completed the survey. The survey contains extensive measures of substance use, violence, and mental health. The study uses cluster analysis and multinomial logits to examine the variation in the effect of schools, family, and demographic indicators on alcohol use across neighborhood contexts. Study implications and suggestions for future research are included. The study was partially funded by NIDA grant # R01-DA11691-01A1.

This study examines the combined impact of neighbourhood context and alcohol use on violent offending among a representative sample of Toronto area high school students. Our primary aim is to determine whether the alcohol/violence nexus is sustained in different social contexts. Given the enormous cultural diversity of Toronto and related norms for under-age drinking, this is an ideal site to test the alcohol/violence relationship across neighbourhoods. The protective effects of family and school in mitigating violent events may also vary by neighbourhood and were considered. The results indicate that there is significant variation in the strength of the link between alcohol use and violent offending across neighbourhood context. In particular, established middle- to upper-class immigrant neighbourhoods appeared to have the strongest link between alcohol and violence. In economically disadvantaged contexts, the link between alcohol use and violence is stronger in immigrant neighbourhoods where whites are still the dominant racial group. Contrasts between these results and those found in American samples are discussed, as are recommendations for further research.

This study examines the impact of neighborhood and individual level factors as predictors of violent victimization in a sample of high-school students in Toronto, Canada. Individual factors include school and family effects, alcohol use, and a variety of demographic measures. The neighborhood elements in this study include neighborhood disadvantage (Wilson, 1996) and collective efficacy (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997) concepts in the forefront of research on crime. The research not only examines the direct effect of these variables but also the interaction of the macro- and micro-level variables as correlates of victimization. The results indicate that the neighborhood disadvantage is critical in the explanation of violent victimization. Moreover, the relationship between alcohol use and victimization varies by neighborhood disadvantage.