CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Issues
2. Understanding Alcohol Abuse
3. Understanding Violence Against Women
4. Alcohol and Domestic Violence
5. Alcohol, Sexual Assault, and Rape
6. Prevention and Early Intervention
7. Screening and Assessment
8. Diagnosis and Treatment
9. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Fact Sheets
Videos
Resources

Silence Hurts
Alcohol Abuse and Violence Against Women

Theories of Alcohol and Domestic Violence

Some of the theories that explore the relationship between alcohol and domestic violence include:⁴³

• Disinhibition Theory: Alcohol tends to interfere with the part of the brain that suppresses violent behavior. Alcohol loosens a person's inhibitions or removes the block against aggression or violent behavior.
• Selective Disinhibition Theory: Disinhibition occurs only at certain times, depending on the interaction between alcohol use and a complex set of social and psychological circumstances (e.g., at home but not in a bar).
• Expectancy Theory: An individual has certain beliefs about the effects of alcohol. For example, male perpetrators are more likely to believe that alcohol influences the loss of temper and impulsive behavior. They also interpret the alcohol-related sensations of arousal (e.g., increased heart rate) as increased aggression. Alcohol-related violence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Indirect Cause Theory: Alcohol is seen as causing physiological, emotional, and cognitive changes that may lead to aggressive behavior such as partner abuse.
• Object Relations Theory: Humans are motivated from their earliest moments by the need for significant relationships with objects. Objects include people, such as the mother. Trust and security must be fostered between mother (caregiver) and child. Inadequate nurturing can lead to rage over unmet needs, causing the adult male to be desperate and demanding. He has difficulty handling anger and frustration and tends to become violent toward significant objects (partners) and society.⁴⁴
• Social Learning/Deviance Disavowal Theory: These theories examine the way a child learns to accept behaviors and attitudes based upon how he or she is raised. If a child is raised in an environment where alcohol use and violence are norms, the child learns to copy that behavior.⁴⁵