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Domestic Abuse by Male Alcohol and Drug Addicts

NCJ Number
156729
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1994) Pages: 359-368
Author(s)
L W Bennett; R M Tolman; C J Rogalski; J Srinivasaraghavan
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Sixty-three male inpatient alcohol and drug addicts and 34 of their female partners participated in a study of variables associated with physical and nonphysical abuse of women.
Abstract
Violence or addiction in family of origin was measured ordinally. Respondents were asked about familial history of alcoholism, frequency of observed parental spousal abuse, perceived child abuse, and belief that one or more parents were alcoholic. The severity of current alcohol or drug abuse was measured with a number of instruments. By their own reports, 21 percent of the respondents had been arrested for battery of a female partner, and 27 percent had an order of protection or restraining order issued against them. The proportion of men who reported substance abuse by a parental figure was 63 percent (at least one parent), 55 percent (father), and 29 percent (mother). One-third of the men reported they had been abused as children, and 38 percent had witnessed their mother being battered. Results suggest that domestic abuse by male addicts is not directly related to the experience of violence or addiction in the family of origin, external locus of control, or severity of alcohol abuse. Correlates of domestic abuse were an early onset of drug/alcohol-related problems; low income; a history of nonalcohol drug use, particularly cocaine; and a history of arrest and outpatient counseling. 3 tables and 50 references