DOES DRINKING GENERATE FAMILY VIOLENCE?
Unfortunately, violence is common in American households, and alcohol is a contributing factor, according to research done by Kantor and Straus (1989) and by Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz (1980), among others. Hotaling and Sugarman (1986) found that alcohol appears to be most relevant to the occurrence of husband-against-wife violence. Hamilton and Collins (1981) reviewed about 25 studies that examined the role of alcohol in spouse and CHILD ABUSE. They found alcohol to be most relevant to wife beating, where it was present in one-quarter to a half of all such events. (Alcohol was present in less than one in five incidents of child abuse.) The most common pattern was for only the husband to be drinking or for both parties to have consumed alcohol. It was uncommon for only the wife to have been drinking. Studies also indicate that husbands or partners with alcohol problems were more likely to be violent against their wives/partners. A 1998 BJS study on the relationship between crime and
