Little research has been done in Switzerland on domestic violence over the last decade and of those done they did not investigate the situational drinking of the persons involved. This study attempted to obtain information on the alcohol involvement in incidents of domestic violence, specifically the drinking status of the persons involved at the time of the incident and the attributions made to the role of alcohol by those concerned. From November 1999 to February 2000, a total of 53 calls to the emergency line of the police over a period of 110 days and related to domestic violence were registered. These incoming emergency calls came to the central switchboard of the Zurich city police. A standardized questionnaire consisting of 44 items was generated. In addition, interviews were conducted with victims in order to gain relevant insight into the subjective understanding of the violent incidents. Results of the study indicated that in 40 percent of the 42 situations investigated, police officers established that 1 or several of the persons concerned were under the influence of alcohol. In 9 out of 17 situations involving alcohol, the persons were highly inebriated. In the interviews of victims involving inebriation, the study showed a visible range of attributions to the role played by alcohol. A significant limitation of the study is the short period of investigation resulting in a small number of observations. References