What is the relationship between domestic violence and addiction?

Domestic Violence in the United States

Domestic violence is one of the most underreported and most common crimes in the United States. According to researchers Jennifer P. Schneider and Richard Irons, in the article “When Is Domestic Violence a Hidden Face of Addiction?” (1997), more than one-quarter of women in the United States will be abused in their lifetimes. More than 54 percent of married women in violent households will be sexually assaulted repeatedly. Although an estimated 25 to 35 percent of all women who visit emergency rooms have been abused through acts of domestic or family violence, only 5 percent of these women admit that their partners or spouses are responsible for their injuries.

When a person struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol is present in the household, many of these numbers increase. In 2010, Addiction Treatment magazine reported that 80 percent or more of all cases of domestic violence are somehow connected to the use of drugs or alcohol. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has reported that 61 percent of domestic violence offenders are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Schneider and Irons found that 75 percent of women living with addicts have been threatened with violence, while 45 percent have been physically or sexually assaulted by their partners.

Regardless of whether an addiction coexists with violence in a household, women are typically abused thirty-five times or more before they make a formal complaint to police. In addition, 47 percent of men—those with and without a substance abuse problem—who beat their wives do so three times or more each year.

As time passes, violence is likely to escalate in a home where a family member is dealing with an addiction to drugs or alcohol. In extreme cases, this leads to the murder of a spouse. The DOJ estimates that one-half or more of persons accused of killing their spouses admit that they were drunk or high at the time of the murder.

Women are not the only victims of domestic violence; children are victimized too. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) reported that children living in a home with an addict are more likely to suffer physical, mental, or emotional abuse than those in a household where substance abuse is not present. More than 80 percent of child abuse cases involve an abuser who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the abuse.

Domestic Violence and Addiction

Domestic violence and addiction do not have a causal relationship; throughout the years, experts have established that these problems are closely related, but these same experts have not and cannot prove that domestic or family violence is a direct result of a drug or alcohol addiction. It is true, however, that domestic violence is more likely to occur in homes in which a member of the family has become dependent on a particular substance.

Experts cannot call the relationship between domestic violence and addiction causal because it is unclear what factor is the cause and what is the effect. Questions such as the following remain: Did the abuser commit an act of violence because he or she was drunk? Or did the abuser begin drinking because he or she felt guilty for acting violently?

Even though experts have tried to inform the public that evidence of a causal relationship between addiction and domestic violence does not exist, the general public continues to view this relationship as such. Many people do not consider that violence is present in homes where addictions are not. They take no issue with blaming the violence on alcohol and drug abuse; they view abusers as weak and controlled by their substance or drugs of choice. According to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, this view has facilitated a “learned disinhibition.” Essentially, society has provided abusers with an excuse for their violence. This view also provides abusers with expectations that they will become violent if they drink or get high.

Although society may continue to view this relationship as causal, experts remain unconvinced. Researchers have discovered, however, that cases of domestic violence and addiction do appear to be connected through behavioral parallels. According to Schneider and Irons, the relationship between an addict and his or her drug of choice is similar to the relationship between an abuser and his or her violent tendencies in the following ways:

• In both substance abuse and domestic violence, the user/abuser experiences a loss of control. The abuser loses control of his or her emotions and anger, while the addict loses control of his or her drinking or drug use.

• Both the addict and the abuser continue their behaviors despite recognizing negative consequences of their actions. The addict and abuser feel remorse or guilt regarding their actions, and abusers are aware that their victims may have experienced emotional, sexual, or physical damage or discomfort because of their behaviors.

• The addict and the abuser develop a preoccupation or obsession with their behaviors. Addicts become obsessed with being drunk or high, while abusers become obsessed with the idea of controlling their victims—especially in circumstances where the abuse is sexual. This preoccupation often erases all guilt or remorse the addict and abuser may feel about their behaviors.

• Both the addict and abuser become tolerant. The addict requires higher doses of his or her substance of choice to reach a mental state in which he or she is content. The abuser becomes increasingly more violent; the abuse may become more frequent, more intense, or more diverse in nature. The victim, too, becomes more tolerant of and desensitized to the abuse.

Because of these, and a number of other similarities between domestic violence and addiction, it is easy for both of these conditions to present themselves in a single household. In many cases, the person with the addiction is also the abuser; however, the addict also can become the victim. Sober members of the household who are unhappy with the addict’s behavior are also capable of losing control. This may lead to abuse of the addict.

Treating Coexisting Conditions

When treating a person addicted to drugs or alcohol who is also a domestic violence offender, it is important that both the violent tendencies and the addiction receive attention. In these cases, drug and alcohol counselors, physicians, and domestic violence counselors should work together to determine the proper approach to treatment.

Physicians may prescribe medications to help treat the addiction and eliminate any rage or depression. Therapists and other treatment professionals may recommend one-on-one counseling or group therapy. They may even require their patients to be active in multiple groups, such as a domestic violence group and an addiction group, in addition to taking medication and speaking with a therapist.

Professionals, regardless of the course of treatment chosen, should ensure that both the violence and the addiction are being treated. Because medical professionals do not view addiction as the cause of family violence or vice versa, they should be able to separate each factor and assign specific treatments to each. Many experts agree that once the addiction is under control, the persons who are abused can be part of the treatment process. The abused person might attend therapy sessions with the patient and are often expected to support the patient as best as they can.

Providing patients with both domestic violence and substance abuse counseling in a single setting is the ideal way to treat these coexisting conditions; however, the number of patients who receive both of these services in one location is quite low across the United States. The DOJ reported that 80 percent of domestic violence programs do not offer services to help their patients deal with substance abuse, though 92 percent of the program directors surveyed wish the programs did. These numbers are low because of a lack of financial resources and the absence of staff members who know how to counsel both family violence and addictions.

The Future?

Schneider and Irons found that 63 percent of abusive men admitted to seeing their fathers abuse their mothers when they were children. Many of these men were abused by their fathers too. Both witnesses and victims of family violence are more likely to form a dependency on drugs and alcohol than those who did not grow up in violent homes. This increases the likelihood that they will then abuse their own family members.

Children who no longer wish to see their parents abused—in addition to children who wish to escape a household in which they are abused—often run away from home. The NCADV has determined that runaways have a high risk of becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol. This substance abuse, combined with memories of abusive childhoods, may place these persons on destructive paths to violent future homes of their own.

Bibliography

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Substance Abuse Treatment and Domestic Violence. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 1997. Print.

Devries, Karen M., et al. "Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Alcohol Consumption in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Addiction 109.3 (2014): 379–91. Print.

Irons, Richard, and Jennifer P. Schneider. “When Is Domestic Violence a Hidden Face of Addiction?” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 29 (1997): 337–44. Print.

McCollum, Eric E., and Terry S. Trepper. Family Solutions for Substance Abuse: Clinical and Counseling Approaches. New York: Haworth, 2001. Print.

McCormick, Cynthia. "Experts: Addiction 'Pervasive' in Domestic Violence." Cape Cod Times. Local Media, 8 Oct. 2015. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

Riger, Stephanie, Larry W. Bennett, and Rannveig Sigurvinsdottir. "Barriers to Addressing Substance Abuse in Domestic Violence Court." American Journal of Community Psychology 53.1 (2014): 208–17. Print.

Sanders, Mark. Slipping through the Cracks: Intervention Strategies for Clients with Multiple Addictions and Disorders. Deerfield Beach, FL: HCI, 2011. Print.