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MYTHS ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ALCOHOL: · Alcohol use and/or alcoholism causes men to batter. · Alcoholism treatment alone will address the abuse adequately. · Battered women are "co-dependent" and thus contribute to the continuation of abuse. · Addicted battered women must get sober before they can begin to address their victimization.
FACTS ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ALCOHOL: · Alcohol and alcoholism do not cause domestic violence. · Alcoholism and battering do share similar characteristics, including: both may be passed from generation to generation, both involve denial or minimization of the problem, both involve isolation of the family.
· A battering incident that is coupled with alcohol abuse many be more severe and result in greater injury.
· Alcoholism treatment does not "cure" battering behavior; both problems must be addressed separately. It is dangerous to tell a victim to firmly resist the addict as is taught in traditional treatment therapy. Provision for the woman's safety must take precedence and the victim must be supported toward making her own choices. A victim is the expert when their personal safety is concerned. They know what must be done to keep themselves and their children safe.
· A small percent (7 to 14 percent) of battered women have alcohol abuse problems, which is no more than that found in the general female population. A woman's substance abuse problems do not relate to the cause of her abuse, although some women may turn to alcohol and drugs in response to the abuse. To become independent and live free from violence, women should receive assistance for substance abuse problems in addition to other supportive services.
· Men living with women who have alcohol abuse problems often try to justify their violence as a way to control them when they're drunk. A woman's failure to remain substance free is never an excuse for the abuser's violence.
· While drug and alcohol abuse do not cause people to be violent, the abuse of these substances may substantially increase the risk of injury to victims. The potential for lethality is increased both during intoxication and withdrawal. Therefore, safety plans for battered women must take into account the batterer's addiction.
· Substance abusers do not always appear intoxicated, due to tolerance built up over time. Moreover, the phenomenon of denial makes it unlikely that the alcoholic in treatment will volunteer information about violence in the home at first, and that a batterer in counseling or a victim in an examining room in a hospital or a shelter will volunteer information about an alcohol or drug problem.
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