Written by Jacqueline Wong

Photos by Eriel Datuin

 

There is a common myth that crime cannot be controlled by scientific study and quantifying it would be useless in its prevention. However, Dr. Robert Nash Parker, Professor of Sociology and University Honors faculty, rejected and dispelled this myth at a recent symposium at UCR. Presenting his new book entitled Alcohol and Violence, the book explores the role that alcohol plays in violent communities. Hypothesizing that “if people intervene in their communities, we ought to expect a decline of violence,” he explained how he and a team of researchers conducted a series of longitudinal experiments of intervention across the country, where they helped facilitate alcohol regulation laws in various communities. These methods included enforcing Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) licenses to bartenders, establishing DUI checkpoints, and employing underage decoy stings to expose and prevent the sale of alcohol to minors. After linking the communities’ alcohol sales to their rates of violence, he found that the more that the sale of alcohol was regulated, the rate of violence decreased. Ending his presentation on a hopeful note, Dr. Parker concluded that as a community, “we can intervene, and we can see reductions in violence no matter what else is going on…it can be done, so everyone should do it.”