How Domestic Violence Perpetrators Use Drugs and Alcohol to Control Their Victims

At least three a long time of research on intersection substance use within the case of domestic and family violence consistently shows that the frequency, severity and consequences of violence increase when the perpetrator uses alcohol or other drugs.

Around 24–54% of domestic and family violence cases reported to the police in Australia are classified as alcohol-related, while other drugs are linked to 1-9% of incidents. This is consistent with international evidence that shows substance use is related to domestic and family violence 25–50% of cases.

Several studies have also pointed to increased heaviness domestic and family violence where substances are involved. Australian studyThe study, which examined 240 women murdered by a current or former partner between 2010 and 2018, found that greater than 60% of male perpetrators were inebriated or drugs on the time of the fatal incident.

Other studies indicate alcohol-related domestic and family violence is 2 to thrice more likely to involve serious physical violence, resembling life-threatening injuries and broken bones, compared to domestic and family violence that shouldn’t be alcohol-related.

Our research, nevertheless, is especially curious about the role that alcohol and other drugs play within the tactics of violence and abuse by perpetrators. This is typically called “compulsion to use substances“and it is a kind of compulsory control.

Understanding Substance Use Compulsion

Coercive control is a repetitive pattern of emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, or technology-enabled abuse that instills fear and control over one other person.

Set national rules In in search of to address the problem of coercive control within the context of domestic and family violence, it will be significant to recognise that substance use may be exploited in the identical way as technological or financial abuse.

Our work identifies several ways by which perpetrators may exploit alcohol or other drugs as a type of coercive control, or in other words, using one’s substance use to gain more power. These include:

• to justify his violence (“It was the drink that made me do it”)
• shift the main focus from abuse to other problems (“I have a drug problem, that’s more important”)
• control others through their substance use. For example, when a one who abuses is intoxicated or in withdrawal, victim-survivors often comply with their demands or avoid arguing to de-escalate violence.

Perpetrators may additionally use victim-survivors’ substance use as a weapon. Research shows that to numb the physical and emotional pain of domestic violence, victim-survivors may turn to substances.

The perpetrators often encourage this practice to increase their power and control over the victim-survivor and to undermine their credibility if the authorities get entangled.

Similarly, perpetrators may intensify the victims’ existing substance use, for instance by persuading them to drink alcohol or take drugs. more oftenAlternatively, they might sabotage the efforts of victim-survivors to get well by stopping them from accessing medical services.

Another tactic is to lie in regards to the nature and extent of the victim-survivor’s substance use. This may undermine their credibility with authorities resembling child protection services or family courts.

Children suffer too

At a basic level, children are terrified after they hear their father coming home drunk and aggressive. They fear for themselves in addition to for his or her moms, often finding that the violence that follows leaves neither parent able to take care of their needs.

They may additionally be involved in forcing their father to take psychoactive substances. For example:

If you do not shut these kids up, I’m going for a drink.

Child protection data shows how child protection data can have a serious impact on children living in a violent environment where a minimum of one parent is addicted to psychoactive substances.

Recent New South Wales Study reported on children living in situations of domestic and family violence. Children whose one or each parents had substance use problems or poor mental health were thrice more likely to be identified as vulnerable to harm requiring statutory intervention than those in cases of domestic and family violence alone.

Children in situations involving substance abuse and domestic and family violence are amongst essentially the most vulnerable in Australia.

What can we do?

Policy and practical responses on the intersection of domestic violence and substance use, each in Australia AND internationallyfocused on single problems: domestic violence and substance use.

Although many families perceive domestic violence and substance use as closely linked, service systems often fragment these experiences, treating the 2 issues as unrelated.

Our research explores how these two highly isolated sectors can work together in the shape of 17-week group program for fathers who used violence and abuse within the context of substance use. These men had a more significant history of violence and abuse than men in an analogous program focused solely on violence.

International evidence shows that programs that address each substance abuse and domestic violence are developed but rarely followed up, despite evidence of their effectiveness.

We would love to see more nuanced policy and practice that recognises the complex relationship between domestic and family violence and substance use. Importantly, these approaches need to recognise children’s experiences of those intersecting issues and provide tailored responses to promote their safety.