Substance Dependency and Domestic Violence: A Correlation Study

719 Words2 Pages

Substance Dependency The study by Macy and Goodburn (2012) examines the correlation between “substance dependency and domestic violence showing how the collaboration between the support services promotes success”. The study was based around literature that provided information and recommendations on the topic area (Macy and Goodburn, 2012). The reference list was extensive as the authors reviewed 651 articles that were relevant to the theme (Macy and Goodburn, 2012). They found that victims of intimate partner violence are five times more likely than the general population to have substance abuse issues (Macy and Goodburn, 2012). Furthermore, drugs doubled the likelihood of women being victimized in abusive relationships (Macy and Goodburn, …show more content…

PTSD and SD were measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale Revised (CTS2) completed by 58 women at the entry into psychotherapy. The rates of physical and psychological aggression of victims who experienced trauma or perpetrated the trauma are measured using the CTS2 (Najavits, et al, 2004). They were then assesses using a Structured Clinical interview for the DSM-IV (Najavits, et al, 2004). They found that a substantial number of participants reported negative behaviour towards their spouse, both “physical attack and psychological violence” (Najavits, et al, 2004). The average age of women who suffered a high level of early childhood sexual and physical abuse was 8.7 years (Najavits, et al, 2004). This early childhood trauma can negatively affect their emotional well-being and increase the likelihood of them developing substance use disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder as adults (Najavits, et al, 2004). Additionally, substance use is a coping mechanism for women who experience some form of trauma in their childhood and adult life (Najavits, et al, 2004). They also found a strong correlation between victim’s substance use and intimate partner violence in the past month prior to the study (Najavits, et al, 2004). It was also established that repeat victimization increases the likelihood of substance abuse in abusive …show more content…

The primary research consisted of 146 female participants and the information was gathered by administering questionnaires (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). A psychiatric interview; version 2.0 of the Composite International Diagnostic interview was used to determine drug dependency among the participants in the study (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). The DSM-IV was used as the baseline to evaluate participants using the six drug dependence symptoms that contributes to substance dependency of victims over their lifetime (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). The Conflict Tactics Scale was then used to measure the impact of the intimate partner violence experienced (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). The study found that people who have substance dependency are more likely to be the perpetrators of intimate partner violence than victims (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). However, cocaine abuse in women significantly correlated with them being victims. Furthermore, hard drugs and drug dependency increased the chance of women experience with repeat victimization (Feingold & Capaldi, 2014). However, Feingold & Capaldi, (2014) also found that women who are dependent on hard drugs are more likely to be the perpetrators of intimate partner

Open Document