Men with alcohol issues have a higher chance of being involved in domestic abuse: Study
| Dec 24, 2019, 11:37 IST
Men who have serious issues with drugs and alcohol are more likely to abuse their partner. These men are six times more likely to be involved in domestic abuse against women, according to a new study by University of Oxford researchers.
For the study, the team examined thousands of medical records going back 16 years and police data from Sweden. The team also tracked 140,000 men who had been clinically diagnosed with a drinking or drug issue between January 1998 and December 2013.
The team also found 1.7 per cent of men dependant on alcohol were arrested for domestic violence. The team also discovered men with mental health issues and behavioural disorders were also more likely to be involved in partner violence.
"Treatment programmes for perpetrators have not been very effective to date - probably reflecting lack of high-quality evidence on risk factors that can be targeted," Seena Fazel, a professor at the University of Oxford, told a news portal. Adding,"Prevention and intervention programmes should prioritise substance misuse and perpetrators should be assessed for substance misuse to prevent recidivism."
Researchers explain why this link is so strong. "Alcohol and drug use disorders decrease an individual's inhibition, which in turn can lead to the use of violence to solve conflicts in intimate relationships," researchers of the study stated.
"People with mental disorders are also likely to use alcohol and drugs as coping strategies to deal with difficult symptoms associated with their illnesses," the study's authors told a news portal. Adding, "Therefore, alcohol and drug use disorders could be underlying mechanisms linking other mental disorders to later [domestic violence] perpetration."
While the research sheds new insight into domestic violence, some researchers say we need to be careful linking alcohol with domestic abuse. "Many perpetrators who commit domestic violence while drunk will also be violent and controlling while sober," Dame Vera Baird, victims' commissioner for England and Wales, told a news portal. Adding, "And many perpetrators of domestic violence and coercive control do not have a drink or drug problem, and therefore it would be a mistake to divert resources from domestic violence perpetrator programmes to tackling drink and drugs misuse."
The study's findings were originally published in the journal PLOS-Medicine.
Picture Courtesy: Google Images
For the study, the team examined thousands of medical records going back 16 years and police data from Sweden. The team also tracked 140,000 men who had been clinically diagnosed with a drinking or drug issue between January 1998 and December 2013.
The team also found 1.7 per cent of men dependant on alcohol were arrested for domestic violence. The team also discovered men with mental health issues and behavioural disorders were also more likely to be involved in partner violence.
"Treatment programmes for perpetrators have not been very effective to date - probably reflecting lack of high-quality evidence on risk factors that can be targeted," Seena Fazel, a professor at the University of Oxford, told a news portal. Adding,"Prevention and intervention programmes should prioritise substance misuse and perpetrators should be assessed for substance misuse to prevent recidivism."
Researchers explain why this link is so strong. "Alcohol and drug use disorders decrease an individual's inhibition, which in turn can lead to the use of violence to solve conflicts in intimate relationships," researchers of the study stated.
"People with mental disorders are also likely to use alcohol and drugs as coping strategies to deal with difficult symptoms associated with their illnesses," the study's authors told a news portal. Adding, "Therefore, alcohol and drug use disorders could be underlying mechanisms linking other mental disorders to later [domestic violence] perpetration."
While the research sheds new insight into domestic violence, some researchers say we need to be careful linking alcohol with domestic abuse. "Many perpetrators who commit domestic violence while drunk will also be violent and controlling while sober," Dame Vera Baird, victims' commissioner for England and Wales, told a news portal. Adding, "And many perpetrators of domestic violence and coercive control do not have a drink or drug problem, and therefore it would be a mistake to divert resources from domestic violence perpetrator programmes to tackling drink and drugs misuse."
The study's findings were originally published in the journal PLOS-Medicine.
Picture Courtesy: Google Images