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

At least three decades of research on intersection substance use in the case of domestic and family violence consistently shows that the frequency, severity and consequences of violence boost 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 exploit is associated with 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 more than 60% of male perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the fatal incident.

Other studies indicate alcohol-related domestic and family violence is two to three times more likely to involve earnest physical violence, such as life-threatening injuries and broken bones, compared to domestic and family violence that is not alcohol-related.

Our research, however, is particularly interested in the role that alcohol and other drugs play in the tactics of violence and abuse by perpetrators. This is sometimes called “compulsion to use substances“and it is a kind of compulsory control.

Understanding Substance Employ Compulsion

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

Set national rules In seeking to address the issue of coercive control in the context of domestic and family violence, it is vital to recognise that substance exploit can be exploited in the same way as technology or financial abuse.

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

• to justify his violence (“It was the drink that made me do it”)

• shift the focus from abuse to other problems (“I have a drug problem, that’s more vital”)

• control others through their substance exploit. For example, when a person who abuses is intoxicated or in withdrawal, victim-survivors often comply with their demands or avoid arguing to de-escalate violence.

Perpetrators may also exploit victim-survivors’ substance exploit 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 boost their power and control over the victim-survivor and to undermine their credibility if the authorities get involved.

Similarly, perpetrators may intensify the victims’ existing substance exploit, for example by persuading them to drink alcohol or take drugs. more oftenAlternatively, they may sabotage the efforts of victim-survivors to recover by preventing them from accessing medical services.

Another tactic is to lie about the nature and extent of the victim-survivor’s substance exploit. This may undermine their credibility with authorities such as child protection services or family courts.

Children suffer too

At a basic level, children are terrified when they hear their father coming home drunk and aggressive. They fear for themselves as well as for their mothers, often finding that the violence that follows leaves neither parent in a position to care for their needs.

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

If you don’t shut these kids up, I’m going for a drink.

Child protection data shows how child protection data can have a earnest impact on children living in a violent environment where at least 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 both parents had substance exploit problems or impoverished mental health were three times more likely to be identified as at risk of 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 among the most vulnerable in Australia.

What can we do?

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

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

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

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

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

The national sexual assault, family violence and domestic violence hotline – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to any Australian who has experienced or is at risk of family violence, domestic violence and/or sexual assault.