Substance Abuse Treatment
and Domestic Violence
Chapter 3 -- Batterers: An Overview
There are myriad reasons why substance abuse counselors should address the
domestic violence of clients who batter their partners. Consensus Panel members
have observed that the violent behavior of a batterer client can interfere with
his treatment for substance abuse, and conversely, his substance abuse can
interfere with interventions aimed at changing his violent behavior (Bennett,
1995). Clients who are incarcerated, for example, or accused of assault or
murder have limited access to substance abuse treatment. Practitioners have
observed that for those clients in treatment, battering may precipitate relapse
and thwart the process of true recovery, which includes "adopting a lifestyle
that enhances one's emotional and spiritual health, a goal that cannot be
achieved if battering continues" (Zubretsky and Digirolamo, 1996, p. 225).
Use of psychoactive substances, on the other hand, may interfere with a
client's capacity to make a safe and sane choice against violence by impairing
his ability to accurately "perceive, integrate, and process information" about
another's behavior toward him (Bennett, 1995, p. 761). Intoxication appears to
increase the likelihood that a batterer may misinterpret or distort a partner's
remarks, demeanor, or actions by "blunting whatever cognitive regulators the
abuser possesses" (Stosny, 1995, p. 36). While abstinence from drugs and alcohol
does not alter battering behavior, substance abuse problems negatively affect a
batterer's capacity to change and increase the chance that violence will occur
(Tolman and Bennett, 1990; Bennett, 1995).
Both battering and substance abuse result in harm to the client and others.
Responding to a client's penchant for violent behavior is as vital as responding
to his depression or to the array of other conditions that may impede progress
in treatment and interfere with recovery.
Perspectives on Substance Abuse and The Batterer
Client
Although domestic violence occurs in the absence of substance abuse, there is
a statistical association between the two problems. Alcohol use has been
implicated in more than 50 percent of cases involving violent behavior (Roy,
1982). Research by Kantor and Straus suggested that approximately 40 percent of
male batterers were heavy or binge drinkers (Kantor and Straus, 1987). A recent
study found that more than half of defendants accused of murdering their spouses
had been drinking alcohol at the time (Bureau of Justice, 1994). Another study
of incarcerated batterers found that 39 percent reported a history of alcoholism
and 22 percent reported a history of other drug addiction. A total of 50 percent
self-reported current addiction; however, this figure rose to 89 percent when
the researchers examined court documents. All but one of the subjects admitted
to having been drunk at the time the battering occurred (Bergman and Brismar,
1994). Higher rates of substance abuse consistently correlate with higher rates
of domestic violence, although one important study concluded that "[c]hronic
alcohol abuse by the male rather than acute intoxication is a better predictor
of battering" (Tolman and Bennett, 1990, p. 91). As one field reviewer noted,
however, "Assaultive men, in general, have high alcohol use scores. Indeed the
more a man matched the gauge for having an abusive personality, the greater his
alcohol consumption. When a batterer says, 'the alcohol made me do it,' he's
blaming one symptom -- violence -- on another -- alcohol abuse."
Most Consensus Panelists and field reviewers concur that the exact nature of
the correlation between battering and substance abuse remains unclear.
Anger and hostility are more frequently generated by interactions between
people, and alcohol or other drug use is likely to be linked to violent behavior
through a complicated set of individual, situational, and social factor The
prevalence of violence between partners cannot be adequately explained merely as
the consequence of alcohol and other drug abuse, nor can it be understood
outside the context within which it occurs. (Gorney, 1989, p. 231)
Current research supports the finding that substance abuse is only one of
many factors that influence a batterer's violent behavior (Collins and
Messerschmidt, 1993). As with substance abuse, other factors are also
correlated, such as depression, psychopathology, violence in the family of
origin, social norms approving of violence (especially toward women), high
levels of marital and relationship conflict, and low income (Tolman and Bennett,
1990; Bennett, 1995; Hotaling and Sugarman, 1986; Hotaling and Sugarman, 1990;
Bograd, 1988). Although intoxication may trigger an individual episode of
violence, addiction does not predispose one to be a batterer. This distinction
is crucial for a provider to understand when treating batterer clients, because
a batterer's violence does not necessarily end when he stops abusing alcohol
or other drugs.
In characterizing substance abuse and domestic violence, practitioners have
observed that the two problems are "separate but similar, and they each interact
and exacerbate each other. For example, both problems are passed on from
generation to generation; both involve denial, with substance abusers and
batterers blaming victims for their behavior; usually, neither problem decreases
until a crisis occurs; and secrecy is often the rule, with victims of abuse
(wrongly) blaming themselves for their partner's substance abuse or violent
behavior" (Engelmann, 1992, p. 6).
Profiling Batterers
In the past, research has focused more on attempts to identify
characteristics of victims rather than perpetrators of violence (Hotaling and
Sugarman, 1990). While information about batterers is relatively sparse and
subject to some debate, it can provide the basis for a rudimentary understanding
of their behavior. One caution is in order, however. Exploring batterers'
individual characteristics addresses only one dimension of the domestic violence
phenomenon. Some experts believe that battering is driven by socially supported
sexism and inequitable distributions of power that feed the batterer's belief
that he has an inherent right to control his partner's behavior. Others contend
that analysis of batterers' characteristics has limited value if attention is
not also directed to the larger culture of violence and social injustice in
which battering occurs (Adams, 1988; Tolman and Bennett, 1990; Stosny, 1995).
Research has clearly asserted the importance of socioeconomic factors in
understanding battering: Approval of violence against women, low income, and
belief in gender-based stereotypes emerge repeatedly as correlates of domestic
violence (Bennett, 1995). As in the case of substance abusers, multiple internal
and external risk factors appear to influence problem development among men who
batter.
Individual Characteristics
Although batterers are a heterogeneous group, research has uncovered a number
of characteristics that differentiate men who batter from men who don't. Many
batterers (particularly those who engage in severe physical assaults against
their partners) witnessed parental violence when they were children (Hotaling
and Sugarman, 1990; Pagelow, 1984). While not replicated, findings from the
large-scale National Family Violence Survey that included over 6,000 families
suggest that experiencing corporal punishment as an adolescent may be a risk
factor for later partner abuse (Straus and Kantor, 1994). As mentioned above,
chronic alcohol abuse is another predictor of violence (Tolman and Bennett,
1990), and some studies have found that batterers are more likely to suffer from
depression (Hamberger and Hastings, 1986a; Saunders and Hanusa, 1986).
Source: The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 97-3163
Next Section - Previous Section - Return to Table of Contents
|
 |
|
|
advertisement
Additional Information
Women
and Alcohol
Alcohol
Treatment
Marijuana
Facts
Inhalant
Abuse
Club
Drugs
Alcohol and
Tobacco Use
Adolescent
Substance
Abuse
Alcohol Use
Disorder
Anger
Management
Alcohol and
Aggression
Alcohol
and Family
|
