Alcohol and Drugs
Do alcohol or drugs cause domestic abuse?
There is a popular belief that alcohol and drugs cause violence, and if drinking or taking drugs is eliminated from a violent relationship the violence will stop. Many victims of domestic violence are hopeful that treatment of the offender for alcohol/drug abuse will end the violence.
However, attention to alcohol or drug problems alone is unlikely to stop the violence. Alcohol and drugs are frequently used as an excuse for violence. Deeper analysis often reveals that abusers choose to drink and take drugs because they can then choose to be violent and deny responsibility for their actions.
Abusers may claim that they lost control as a result of drinking and claim that they had no control over the situation. They may show remorse and blame their drunkenness. Abusers who promise to stop abusing alcohol may sincerely believe that this will stop them from behaving violently. The same dynamic occurs for abusers who take drugs.
However, stopping violence is a matter of abusers taking responsibility for their violence, and understanding the connection between their beliefs about entitlement to a privileged position within the family and their abuse. Dealing with alcohol or drug abuse is important, particularly in breaking habits that have developed over a lifetime, but drinking/taking drugs is only half of the problem.
The belief that alcoholism causes domestic violence evolves both from a lack of information about the nature of this abuse and from adherence to the "disinhibition theory." This theory suggests that the physiological effects of alcohol include a state of lowered inhibitions in which an individual can no longer control his behavior. Research conducted within the alcoholism field, however, suggests that the most significant determinant of behavior after drinking is not the physiological effect of the alcohol itself, but the expectation that individuals place on the drinking experience (Marlatt & Rohsenow, 1980). When cultural norms and expectations about male behavior after drinking include boisterous or aggressive behaviors, for example, research shows that individual men are more likely to engage in such behaviors when under the influence than when sober.
Evolving from the belief that alcohol or substance abuse causes domestic violence is the belief that treatment for the chemical dependency will stop the violence. Battered women with drug-dependent partners, however, consistently report that during recovery the abuse not only continues, but often escalates, creating greater levels of danger than existed prior to their partners’ abstinence. In the cases in which battered women report that the level of physical abuse decreases, they often report a corresponding increase in other forms of coercive control and abuse—the threats, manipulation and isolation intensify (Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, 1992).
(Roberts, 1996)
Here are some important things to remember about the relationship between alcohol and drugs and domestic abuse:
- Abusers generally limit their abuse to a partner or family member. This means that the abuser is able to choose whom to assault.
- Assaults take place only on some occasions of drinking/taking drugs and not on others. This indicates that much of the time the abusive behaviour can be controlled.
- The person drinks heavily or takes drugs knowing that they are at risk of assaulting their partner. This suggests an approach to violence which ‘builds in’ an excuse.
- The drinking/drugs can take place with other people away from home but the assault often happens later when the person is alone with his/her partner or family. This suggests that there is a measure of control over the place, timing and target of the assault.
- Assaults on partners or family members usually take place in private. This suggests that a decision is made about keeping the assault hidden.
- Men are more likely than women to commit assaults while under the influence of alcohol. This suggests that attitudes rather than chemicals cause the assaults.
- Some people have problems with alcohol abuse but are never involved in violent behaviour. Attitudes allow people to make choices about behaving violently. This indicates that alcohol cannot be blamed for causing violence.
Note: There is a distinction between abuse of alcohol and addiction, which is a clinical dependency on alcohol or other drugs. Addiction is a specialist area requiring long-term treatment and needs to be addressed as a health issue.
Some of this section is taken from Community Action to Prevent Family Violence. A Safer Community Council Education Resource 1997.
What about victims of abuse who use alcohol or drugs?
A history of abuse is the most powerful predictor of alcoholism in women. Women victims of domestic abuse who are dependent on alcohol or drugs usually begin drinking or using after the onset of abuse by a partner. Many of these women use drugs or alcohol to help them cope with their fear and manage the daily activites of their lives in the face of ongoing danger (Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, 1992). Abused women sometimes develop addictions to drugs prescribed to them by healthcare providers for issues related to the abuse such as depression, sleeping problems, pain relief from injuries, etc.
While using alcohol or drugs may help a woman cope with abuse, her injuries will generally be more serious if either she or her partner were intoxicated at the time of the beating. Using alcohol and drugs may also make it harder for her to escape from an abusive relationship. She may not be able to think clearly enough to plan a safe strategy for leaving. And finally, some women's refuges will not take in women with an alcohol or drug addiction.
Alcohol and substance addiction programmes often do not screen for domestic abuse and do not have policies in place to help women achieve safety from abuse while they are on the programme. In cases of domestic abuse, programmes are likely to fail if they do not address the underlying reason the woman is using.