Understanding alcohol-related crime requires looking beyond drinking itself to the trauma, mental health challenges, social conditions, and patterns of addiction that can contribute to harmful behaviour.

This broader social work perspective informed the University of the Free State’s (UFS) contribution to a continental discussion hosted by the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI).

Dr Carel van Wyk, Lecturer in the UFS Department of Social Work, contributed to the UNAFRI virtual discussion on 17 July 2026. The X Spaces session, themed From the Bar to Behind Bars: Analysing the Link Between Alcoholism and Crime, explored responses to alcohol-related harm and crime across Africa.

A registered social worker and psychometrist, Dr Van Wyk holds a PhD in social work and an honours degree in psychology. He also serves as a Class A trustee for Alcoholics Anonymous South Africa. 

Understanding alcohol, trauma, and crime

Drawing on his work with adolescents experiencing complex trauma and their families, he explored how trauma and adverse childhood experiences – including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, mental illness, and exposure to substance abuse – can increase vulnerability to harmful patterns of alcohol use.

He also outlined three ways in which alcohol and crime can intersect: the direct effects of alcohol on behaviour; economic or compulsive crime linked to sustaining addiction; and systemic crime associated with the illegal production and distribution of unregulated alcohol.

In the South African context, he situated these pathways within wider challenges, including violent crime, socio-economic trauma, unregulated access to alcohol, and the use of alcohol to cope with untreated mental health conditions, post-traumatic stress, and systemic despair.

South Africa’s wider burden of alcohol-related harm makes these questions particularly significant, with harmful alcohol use associated with injuries, violence, road crashes, and other social harms.

The discussion also considered the intersection of harmful alcohol consumption and gender-based violence. Dr Van Wyk cautioned against presenting alcohol as the sole cause of abusive behaviour.

“Alcohol does not create an abuser, but it acts as a chemical stimulus.”

This distinction points to the importance of addressing alcohol-related harm alongside the social, psychological, and structural factors that contribute to violence.

Connecting prevention and recovery

The discussion also considered practical responses to alcohol-related harm.

Dr Van Wyk highlighted measures including reducing the concentration of liquor outlets, strengthening drink-driving interventions, improving access to screening and treatment, limiting young people’s exposure to alcohol advertising, and using pricing and taxation policies to reduce harmful consumption.

Drawing on his involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous South Africa, he also highlighted recovery and sustained support as part of a broader response to alcohol-related harm.

Through its Department of Social Work, the University of the Free State is contributing academic knowledge and practice-based experience to a wider African conversation on prevention, treatment, recovery, and crime.