Relationship Between Alcohol And Domestic Violence

Alcohol and violence

According to the National Coalition against Domestic violence, in 1994 more than half of the men convicted for murdering their spouses had been under the influence on alcohol. Violence has been an ongoing act correlated with substance abuse. There are many contributing factors to how alcohol affects people; the brain, when induced with alcohol, responds differently than it would normally. According to the International Center for Alcohol policies men are not the only ones that may become violent due to alcohol, women also have the tendency to react violently. Alcohol leads to devastating situations such as miscarriages, physical abuse, mental abuse, and death. The brain is very important, because it helps
up make good judgment, good reaction time, and have reasoning. The first stage in the effects of alcohol is dehydration. People get “drunk”1 because of the lack of oxygen that the body is receiving and the dehydration; due to the alcohol causes the human bodies have an increase in urination. “Alcohol replaces water in your cells, the red cells and their capacity to carry oxygen decreases” (Rola, 2013). Alcohol cause impaired memory, blackouts, moodiness, altered speech, hazy thinking and confusion which may all lead to domestic abuse. The reason for this is because the alcohol is attacking the hippocampus and cerebellum. These mixed emotions lead to some people whom may be ordinary, committing crimes they may had never done while sober. “Heavy drinking has been strongly linked to violence between partners and to a lesser extent to violence towards others, possibly because proximity increases in the opportunities for violence” (Rola, 2013). Peoples lack of judgment cause them to be unable to recognize their actions as being appropriate or not. Due to a shortage of oxygen being supplied to the brain, a person may begin to experience the feeling of annoyance and become short tempered. Because of this lack of judgment the individual is more likely to not be able to control these emotions and strike out at a spouse or loved one. “This occurs in part because alcohol impairs judgment and reduces impulse control (health, 2004). The change in attitude and loss of ability to controls one’s own emotions makes it easier for the individual to make a decision they may have not chosen to do while sober. There are many forms of abuse resulting from the excess use of alcohol, these include child abuse, spouse abuse, hitting, choking, biting, and fights in the public.
Individuals usually end up hurting those who are closer to them, because they are in the vicinity. A twenty nine year old named Arnulfo Gonzales from Orange County was charged in the murder of his friend Samuel Valdivia. Both of the men had been drinking when they broke into an argument that lead to the accused, grabbing a knife killing the victim. The murder happened on March 15, 2010 approximately eleven thirty three. “A man has been arrested in connection with stabbing his 35-year-old friend to death after the two got into an argument after they had been drinking, police said (Salazar, 2010). Due to the impairment caused by alcohol use, the accused was unable to defuse a simple argument and instead committed a crime that forever changed his life. Drinking is a contributing factor to suicide intensifying the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. According to Dr. Alex Crosby “Alcohol leads to disinhibiting, and it can enhance feelings of hopelessness and depression”2. The reason that this happens is because when you drink you become impulsive and falsely brave making you not afraid to do things you normally would not do while sober. This is also known as the “superman” affect, thus giving a person he feeling of being invincible. Alcohol is used as a source of stress relieving, fun, and entertainment,
but when not properly monitored, it can turn deadly when not properly monitored. On May 30, 2012 a thirty year old man named Gaston Geroud celebrated his thirtieth birthday by having drinks with friends. After his celebration, Gaston made the fatal decision to drive and ended up killing a family. Brenda gains 64, and her daughter Denise Gains, along with four children where are killed. Because Mr. Geroud decided to consume alcohol and drive he ended the life of a whole family that was driving home from church. “On May 30 of this year Gaston Gerald celebrated his 30th birthday, got drunk and killed seven people. Gerald is white, the victims were all Black” (Livingston, 2012). Intoxicated people become a danger to themselves, as well as those around them. Because of the superman affect, the accused felt he was perfectly fine to drive. In many cases when friends try to drive the individual intoxicated they become angry, and insist to drive. When an individual becomes irresponsible due to the large amounts of alcohol and acts out a form of violence or abuse on another there are more than the immediate consequences.
Family members and friends of both parties are also affected. Both must face emotions such as loss, embarrassment, responsibility, and 3despair. “Most survivors face a long period of emotional struggle to reconstruct a devastated life” (murdered). When children are brought up in a home where one or both parents drink and are violent this will sometimes cause the child to either follow the same path or tray from it. Either way the act cause the child to have physiological damage, only knowing how to be violent or to drink when they have problems. Lister here, are only some of the issues that children get from alcohol leading to violence. “physiological problems, such as hand tremors and blackouts, psychological problems, such as obsessive desire to drink, and behavioral problems that disrupt social or work life” (parsons, 2003). All the pain and suffering that comes from large amounts of alcohol consumption is massive and it is reflected through the families of all that must deal with the consequences of ones actions. Alcohol has been proven to alter your personality making you brave and can be dangerous when too much is consumed making them alcohol abusers. The problem is not the Alcohol itself, but the self-control of the individual drinking it. There have been many programs such as intervention
that show the stress that families go through with just the alcohol abuse aspect, but the consequences that lead after is even more intense , and permanent damage is inflicted upon children and families as well as the accused themselves.

References

Department, S. A. (2012). San Antonio Police Department. Retrieved from San Antonio Police Depatment: http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapd/CurrentCrimeStatistics.aspx health, N. I. (2004, 10). National Institutes on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Retrieved from Alcohol alert: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm
Livingston, J. k. (2012, 11 5). The Louisinana weekly. Retrieved 2012, from The Louisinana weekly: http://www.louisianaweekly.com/drunk-driver-kills-7-family-wants-justice/ murdered, N. o. (n.d.). Survivores of homocide victims. Retrieved from NOPMC: http://www.pomc.com/index.html parsons, T. (2003, 12 14). Alcoholism and it 's effects on family. Retrieved from All Psych online: http://allpsych.com/journal/alcoholism.html
Rabin, R. C. (2009, 06 19). Alcohol a common factor in suicide. New York, New York, U.S.A.
Rachel. (2008, 03 28). Alcohol abuse and physical violence. Del Mar, California, U.S.A.
Rola, O. (2013). Alcohol abuse effects- 5 Physical effects of alcohol abuse. Retrieved 2013, from Health Guidance: www.healthguidance.org
Salazar, D. (2010, 03 15). Man held in stabbing of freind after drinking. Orange County, California, U.S.A.

There are many contributing factors to how alcohol affects people,