Drunk, High, and Mean

            Bennett, Stoops, and Thomas did a study to see if there was a difference between substance abusing men who batter their wives and non-substance abusing men who do so. The sample consisted of 798 men who had been convicted of battering their wives. They were then divided into those who abused substances and those who did not. The men’s demographics were self-reported and the level of abuse was measured by a modified Conflict Tactics Scale 2 for physical abuse and a modified Psychological Maltreatment of Women Index for the psychological aspect of the abuse. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anger levels, and Bipolar Personality Disorder were also accessed in the subjects.

            The results found that substance abusers were more abusive both physically and psychologically. They were more likely to use severe methods of abuse, such as punching, choking, weapon use, and forced sex. Strangely enough, it was also found that the women being battered were more likely to use substances during an abusive incident if their batterer was a substance abuser. The substance abusing batterers also reported growing up in a violent home more often than batterers who were not substance abusers.

            The main implication of this study is that if a man who batters his wife is also addicted to substances, his substance abuse is a factor that needs to be dealt with just as much as his anger issues. Also, women need to be aware that if their husband is a substance abuser, that if he ever becomes abusive, it will have severe consequences.

         A limitation of this research includes the fact that the rating of the severity of the abuse came from scales and self-reports. This leaves the study a bit open to error; however, it would be horrible and unethical to sit back and observe while a man abuses his wife in order to get more precise measurements.

Bennett, L.W., Stoops, C, Thomas, M.D. (2013).The Treatment Needs of Substance Abusing Batterers:
       A Comparison of Men Who Batter Their Female Partners. Journal of Family Violence, 28(2), 121-          129.
Abstract