Intimate Partner Violence In Relationships Essay

Various social problems that involve some form of violence, trauma, or harm are as a result of abuse of alcohol. In recent years there has been increasing research studying and trying to understand the comorbidity of alcohol and intimate partner violence. Whether it be male to female, female to male violence, or same gender violence, alcohol has been seen to largely impact violence in close relationships. Alcohol often impairs both physical and psychological aspects of individual’s. It impairs an individual’s motor movements as well as judgment and an overall shift in behavioural differences can be exhibited. When judgment becomes impaired the behaviour of others can often be misinterpreted thus leading to unnecessary violence against others. The aggression experienced while being intoxicated can cause a partner to react in a physically, emotionally, or sexually abusive manner. The increased levels of alcohol consumptions cause individuals to experience an increase in aggression and thus violence becomes an outlet in releasing this
aggression. There are many factors which influence the reasons for individuals acting out aggressively after consuming alcohol. It is important to highlight that alcohol is not the sole cause of intimate partner violence. Previous history of abuse and various other mental deficits can also cause similar behaviour. However, this paper will focus on the factors that cause violent behaviour in individual who consume excessive amounts of alcohol and the role it has on intimate partner violence. It will further explore the causes of alcohol in inducing aggression and the relation it has with intimate partner violence. It will also assess which forms of treatment work best in reducing rates of violence and what can be done to prevent the misuse of alcohol in those who are unable to control their personal intake and behaviour.
Intimate partner violence is defined as “ any actual, attempted or threatened physical harm against a current or former intimate partner” (personal communication, November 5, 20120). Although the common assumption is that male to female violence is the most common form, in fact intimate partner violence can be perpetrated by males or females, whether heterosexual or homosexual intimate partner violence is quite common amongst all types of individuals. This form of violence can also occur across various different ages and newly formed or long-term relationships. One of the most common examples of intimate partner violence can be seen amongst college students. College students are more susceptible to drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. In a study conducted by Hoves & colleagues it was found that individuals who held strict expectations in interpersonal relationships inflicted greater incidents of intimate partner violence ( Hoves, Parkhill, Neighbours, McConchie & Fossos, 2010). This suggests when intoxicated individual who have a generally more controlling personality are more likely to exhibit intimate partner violence. The purpose of consuming alcohol can also influence how they alcohol will impact the individual. Individuals who use alcohol as a means of alleviating anxiety or stress are drinking due to problematic reasons. Hoves found that college students who were high in autonomy were less likely to drink for problematic reasons and thus those individuals with less autonomy are more susceptible to be perpetrators in intimate partner violence (Hoves et al, 2010). Therefore an individual’s personality type is has an impact on intimate partner violence amongst those who are likely to consume excessive amounts of alcohol.
The majority of research on intimate partner violence suggests that alcohol usage is likely to result in increased number of perpetrators in need of treatment and victims in need of terminating such relationships. For females alcohol use in a relationship is twice as likely to cause intimate partner violence where as for males alcohol use was found to five times less likely than non-intimate partner violence (Thompson & Kingree, 2004). This suggests that in cases of intimate partner violence females were more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence when the perpetrator of the violence had consumed alcohol. In some cases female victims were likely to resort to using alcohol as a means of relieving distress cause by their relationships. Female victims using alcohol in violent relationship as well as alcohol use by their partners put them at an even greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (Thompson & Kingree, 2004). The importance of the findings on the role of alcohol and violence in close relationships allows for a well-defined understanding of early signs and risk factors that are likely to lead to intimate partner violence. Gender specific treatment that focuses on the risk factors in violence within relationships can work towards reducing rates of recidivism in alcohol causing individuals to react violently towards their partners.
With the comorbidity of other mental illnesses violence amongst individuals who abuse the use of alcohol is likely to be greater than those without the comorbidity of other disorders. The most common predictor of increased risk of perpetration was found in depressed and suicidal males (Lipsky, Caetano, Field & Bazargan, 2005). An influential factor on this depression was if the victim of the violence was also likely to abuse the usage of alcohol since it was found that “those who abused their partners or thought that they might abuse them in the future were more likely to report at-risk drinking and to have a partners with a drinking problem” (Lipsky et al, 2005, p. 236). Hence, victims of intimate partner violence put themselves at an even greater risk of violence by abusing alcohol as well.
In a study comparing the various substance use disorders and their relationship with intimate partner violence it was found that amongst alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine use disorders, alcohol was the most prevalent disorder. Alcohol disorder was accountable for 21% of intimate partner violence while cannabis was 6% and cocaine 2% (Smith, Homish, Leonard & Cornelius, 2012). This association suggests that alcohol abused has an effect on individuals that exists more strongly relative to other substance use disorders. Once again in this same study it was found that alcohol use disorders were strongly associated with both perpetration as well as victimization in intimate partner violence (Homish et al, 2012). The abuse of alcohol of both individuals in violent relationships makes it more difficult for either individual to terminate the relationship and thus explains the reason for an increase in recent findings of alcohol abuse and intimate partner violence.
The role of alcohol abuse in relationships has lead to an ever-increasing exchange of physically aggressive and psychologically harmful acts in intimate partners (Mattson, Farrell, Lofgreen, Cunningham & Murphy, 2011).
With the abuse of alcohol the levels of aggression in individuals leads them react in a physically and psychologically harmful manner. By inflicting physical harm on others it impacts the victims psyche but also their own. “Intimate partner violence rates were associated with initial problem severity, alcohol dependence symptoms and an indicator of alcoholism among biological relatives” (Traft, LaMarca, Suvak, O’Farrell, Panuzio & Gagnon, 2010). Those with biological relatives with an alcohol problem who resort to drinking to alleviate stress in their lives, and those who have antisocial personality characteristics are more likely to be involved in intimate partner violence after abusing the use of
alcohol.
One of the reasons that alcohol causes intimate partner violence is due to the overwhelming and uncontrollable anger it releases within an individual. In a study conducted by Christopher Eckhardt alcohol was found to induce aggression in individuals who were already high in trait anger and low in their ability to control their anger (Eckhardt, 2007). An individual’s inability to control their rage and prevent it from being blown out of proportion results in violent and destructive behaviour. Through the inability to control their own excessive drinking and lashing out on others results in them harming themselves as well as their partners when violence is used as an outlet to release the built up aggression. Thus the arousal of anger is another contributing factor in the role of alcohol in intimate partner violence.
Along with anger, hostility also plays a role in how alcohol causes individuals to act violently. Alcohol consumption in couples that were “hostile, martially discordant, and verbally aggressive” (Leonard & Birchler, 2005, p. 239) was strongly associated with intimate partner violence. Severe violence and increase in hostile behaviour can be linked with heavy drinking, however in Leonard’s study it was described that initial step in gaining a better understanding of the relationship that alcohol has in partner violence. Although there is a clear understanding that alcohol does in fact lead an individual to behave aggressively it is important to highlight that this behaviour is explicitly seen in the context of “other another individual, martial, social, cultural, and environmental factors” (Leondard & Birchler, 2005, p. 247). Research has yet to take the next step in this discussion for assessing why it is that such behaviour can only be exhibited in the context of those factors.
Intimate partner violence can have vast consequence on one’s psychological and physical well being. As noted earlier women who are found to be victims of intimate partner violence and are experiencing a tremendous amount of stress are likely to abuse alcohol and other illicit drugs to relieve the trauma inflicted upon them by their partners. Other forms of injuries caused by various different types of violence can include chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems, signs of sexually transmitted infections, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression (Campbell, 2002). The violent acts that victims have inflicted up on them whether by a male or female partner not only have immediate effects but major long term negative consequences on their health as well. The immense amount of fear and stress associated with the partner often prevent them from terminating their relationship. The perpetrators of the violence have often mastered the art of manipulation and brain washing their victims. The victims of intimate partner violence will often believe that they will be unable to survive on their own without their partner and that it is better to be with someone than be alone. In the Canadian population it was found that alcohol abuse was common amongst battered women and that these women were likely to experience significantly higher levels of anxiety, social dysfunction, and insomnia Campbell, 2002). This suggests that physical violence has a strong effect on the psychological well being of an individual compared to non-physical forms of violence.
In an analysis done by Coker & colleagues indicated that females who experience a form of physical violence in their relationships were more likely to report poor psychological and physical well-being (Coker, Davis, Arias, Desai, Sanderson, Brandt & Smith). Forms of physical violence was said to have the most harmful effects of any other form of violence causing chronic health conditions in both women and men. It is common for an individual involved in a violent relationship to develop chronic illnesses down the road. In the cases of intimate partner violence for married couples it will also deeply affect children. Sons who have watched their fathers beat their mothers are ten times more likely to carry on this violent behaviour in their own intimate relationships as adults and daughters who witness their own mothers being abused have higher rates of being victims as adults since they become susceptible to this violence (Stewart, 2012). Through the abuse of alcohol this vicious cycle of violence and hostility can continue on through generations without any preventive treatment to break it. Breaking this cycle of abuse would require research studying the impacts of how alcohol causes intimate partner violence and how it may vary cross-culturally according to different morals and beliefs of individuals.
Not only does alcohol cause intimate partner violence amongst couples that have experienced a previous history of violence but intimate partner violence can also be found in soldiers serving in the military. In recent research conducted by Foran and colleagues with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this study indicated that soldiers who experience a hazardous use of alcohol become involved in intimate partner violence (Foran, Snarr, Heyman & Slep, 2012). In fact the rates of intimate partner violence amongst active duty members are comparable to the rates of everyday civilians. With the abuse of alcohol this violence is found to also be almost similar amongst male and female soldiers, with male soldiers slightly more violent than females.
In a study conducted by Forgery she focused on the female soldiers acting violently towards her civilian partners since the majority of the research focuses on male to female violence. In her study it was found that active duty females were much more likely to be perpetrators of violence than female civilian perpetrators ( Forgery & Badger, 2010). Since the abuse of alcohol can be due to issues of trying to relieve stress, soldiers who have come back from war are likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore from the stress of combat exposure and their partners inability to understand their hardships at battle and their difficulty in adjusting back into their daily routine causes excessive drinking and thus leads to violence. The lack of significance in differences in violent behaviour in different environments suggests that intimate partner violence can occur by anyone whether male or female, civilian or soldier, and in any environment possible.
Another factor that can have an impact on the role that alcohol has on intimate partner violence is the availability of alcohol to the general public. In a study conducted amongst American couples by McKinney and colleagues it was found that the increase of alcohol outlets available to the public increase the risk of health and social consequence one of which included intimate partner violence (McKinney, Caetano, Harries & Ebama, 2008) More specifically the more outlets that were available the more male to female partner violence increased. Alcohol is becoming more and more accessible; within the U.S and Canada most places have at least a couple of liquor stores within every block. This research has been presented to policy makers in the hopes of them acknowledging the causation of alcohol outlets of male to female partner violence; effective efforts to prevent this could limit the cases of partner violence.
Treatment for intimate partner violence should focus on the effect that alcohol has on individuals in violent relationships and what can be done to prevent this. Partner violence has become an epidemic that leads to negatively impact the lives of many victims suffering each and every day with little means to escape from such toxic relationships. Most commonly held belief about domesticated violence cases is that males are the perpetrators and females and the victims in heterosexual couples. Intimate partner violence can occur in both genders and across various sexualities. Treatment focus should be gender specific to best assess the needs of both the perpetrator and victims of violent relationships. Behavioural couples therapy for alcoholics was found to be effective in reducing intimate partner violence by helping adjust the relationships and rehabilitating the alcoholics (Taft, LaMarca, Suvak, O’Farrell, Panuzio & Gagnon, 2010). O’Farrell and colleagues found tin a two year follow up that behavioural couples therapy was effective in reducing intimate partner violence for women with alcoholism (O’Farell, Murphy, Stewart, 2009). Although behavioural couples therapy was found to be effective in reducing violence in relationship further research is required to asses if conflict resolution and communication had improved in relationships that had been previously violent.
A few limitations of these studies were in the methods that were used. The majority of research on the role of alcohol and intimate partner violence relies on self report methods to gather data on how much alcohol is consumed and violence in close relationships in which there is likely to be a dark figure our violent relationships. Self-report measures are not the most reliable and accurate means of gathering data on this topic. In fact most couples in violent relationships do no seek treatment, the individuals who do receive treatment represent the minority who have the ability to seek and receive treatment for their alcoholic partners. Therefore unique characteristics of those in treatment do raise cautiousness about making generalizations about violent or alcoholic individuals who are not in treatment (Leonard & Birchler, 2005).
One of the reasons that intimate partner violence has become prevalent in recent years is the role that alcohol has on both the perpetrator and the victim. Whether violence is being inflicted on the individual or they’re the one inflicting the violence, alcohol abuse has made it more difficult for individuals to seek treatment. Since alcohol is being used as the main source of relieving stress in relationships individuals are less likely to seek treatment as a means of relieving this stress and thus are less likely to terminate their violent relationships. The direct contribution of alcohol abuse to intimate partner violence provides a more socially acceptable means of perpetrating violence than when violence is perpetrated by a non-intoxicated mind (David, Kerr & Capaldi, 2008). This can also be a contributing factor causing victims to stay in violent relationships since they may belief that the perpetrator is only behaving in such of a way because of the alcohol but otherwise cares and love them. Although the increase in research on intimate partner violence is a step in the right direction more action needs to be taken to bring liberty to current victims of this violence.

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