Alcohol May Not Cause Partner Violence But It Seems to Make It Worse: A Cross National Comparison of the Relationship Between Alcohol and Severity of Partner Violence

Abstract

This study assesses whether severity of physical partner aggression is associated with alcohol consumption at the time of the incident, and whether the relationship between drinking and aggression severity is the same for men and women and across different countries. National or large regional general population surveys were conducted in 13 countries as part of the GENACIS collaboration. Respondents described the most physically aggressive act done to them by a partner in the past 2 years, rated the severity of aggression on a scale of 1 to 10, and reported whether either partner had been drinking when the incident occurred. Severity ratings were significantly higher for incidents in which one or both partners had been drinking compared to incidents in which neither partner had been drinking. The relationship did not differ significantly for men and women or by country. We conclude that alcohol consumption may serve to potentiate violence when it occurs, and this pattern holds across a diverse set of cultures. Further research is needed that focuses explicitly on the nature of alcohol’s contribution to intimate partner aggression. Prevention needs to address the possibility of enhanced dangers of intimate partner violence when the partners have been drinking and eliminate any systemic factors that permit alcohol to be used as an excuse. Clinical services for perpetrators and victims of partner violence need to address the role of drinking practices, including the dynamics and process of aggressive incidents that occur when one or both partners have been drinking.

Intimate Partner Violence and Patterns of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence Criteria Among Women: A Latent Class Analysis

“…Although prior research has established an association between violence and individual facets of drinking behavior (Breiding et al, 2008;Graham et al, 2011;O'Leary and Schumacher, 2003), this study demonstrates a direct relationship between IPV and subtypes of problem drinking and provides support for an indirect association via MDD.…”

Factores asociados a violencia física reciente de pareja hacia la mujer en el Perú, 2004-2007

“…Ello sugiere la importancia de implementar políticas públicas y medidas multisectoriales que incluyan todo nivel de servicios de salud, educación y comunitarios además del tamizaje, identificación y derivación a tratamiento de aquellos individuos que presentan un consumo problemático de alcohol. Es necesaria, además, la creación de normas comunitarias para prevenir que el uso de alcohol sea utilizado como excusa moral o legal para justificar la violencia de pareja (28) . Este es un factor clave en la prevención de la violencia de pareja puesto que desarrollar intervenciones que incluyan cambios de normas culturales sobre el uso excesivo de alcohol tiene repercusión directa en la prevención primaria de la violencia de pareja (7) .…”

“…En Latinoamérica, la coexistencia de matrimonio y convivencia como patrón de formación familiar es un rasgo distintivo, siendo esta última más inestable y con posibilidad de disolución más frecuente. En el Perú, la convivencia no se encuentra confinada a un periodo transitorio durante la juventud, sino que es mucho más permanente y se presenta en todas las etapas de la vida, con tendencia a generalizarse debido a tradiciones culturales y a consideraciones de índole económica, particularmente en generaciones más jóvenes (28) . Por eso es necesario identificar las características del patrón de unión de parejas en el país, dentro de los diferentes ámbitos geográficos para proponer y validar estrategias y normas que eviten el aislamiento de la mujer y las condiciones que favorecen la violencia contra ella, así como mecanismos preventivos de identificación y resolución de los conflictos generados por la violencia de pareja.…”

Intergenerational patterns of family violence related to alcohol abuse: a genogram-based study

“…Em outro estudo domiciliar, com enfoque na violência entre casais, 38,1% dos homens e 9,2% das mulheres haviam consumido álcool em eventos violentos (Zaleski, Pinsky, Laranjeira, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Caetano, 2010). O consumo de álcool também parece estar associado à severidade das agressões entre casais, sendo que quanto maior o número de doses consumidas, maior a intensidade de violência (Connor, Kypri, Bell, & Cousins, 2011;Graham, Bernards, Wilsnack, & Gmel, 2011).…”