Alcohol and Familiy Violence

Alcohol and Family Violence

Patricia Castillo

BSHS 406

August 17, 2015

Lateefah Alleyne

Alcohol and Family Violence

Alcohol and family violence has been two issues many families struggle with daily. These are two demons that some families just can’t break. This paper will discuss the historical perspective on how alcohol and family violence has been impacted by legislative changes. I will also show the effects of alcohol abuse on both the addicted individual and those around them. At the same time, I will discuss the impact of family violence on both the perpetrator of family violence and those exposed to family violence. This paper will also review intervention methods, which could be applied to any family in crises, and lastly the paper will show how the family rituals may affect the family member in crises.

Historical Perspective

Four hundred laws have been passed in connection with drunk driving. The founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has become a member of a number of committees like the President’s Committee on Drunk Driving and Driving under the Influence of Drugs, National Commission on Drunk Driving, National Highway Safety Commission, and National Partnership for Drug-Free Use. The legal drinking age in many states was changed to 21 by 1982 due mainly to the efforts of MADD. MADD has exerted the extra mile in some states that did not amend the legal drinking age. The lives of many people were changed because of MADD. A marked decrease in the number of drunk drivers was noted after the organization was established. Sanctions for drunk driving were increased. Offenders caught who drive while intoxicated over the legal limit they are arrested and will have their licenses suspended. They are also required to pay high fines and join classes.

Traditionally, legal and social customs in the United States have allowed and reinforced the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This past occurrence helps to understand why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. Wives, children, and slaves were measured as personal possessions of male citizens who were held accountable for their civic conduct. One of the major victories for women was the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Although it was an improvement, however, women's rights were still not even close to men’s.

Prior to this, the 14th Amendment gave all Americans equal rights under the security of the law. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court still denied equality for women and other minorities. Legislation that was created to protect women was done by giving the power to the woman’s husband or father. Once women received the right to vote, legislation started to improve. Women now became a major factor to politicians since they wanted to earn their vote. Now politicians were trying to secure the woman’s vote, so they had to address the concerns of domestic abuse. Women who were stuck in abusive relationships, with nowhere to go could no longer be ignored. New courts that dealt with only domestic concerns began to open up all over the country. In 1964, a women’s shelter finally opened up, and this started a massive movement for abused women. Not long after, more shelters, hotlines, and counseling centers began to grow.

Alcohol Abuse Impact

According to McGoldrick, Carter, and Garcia Preto (2011), “in the United States, 17.6 million people abuse alcohol or qualify as alcohol dependent each year. Men have higher rates of alcoholism than women, although rates among women have increased over the last 30 years.” Alcoholism not only affects the addicted but those around them as well. The alcohol addict can be male or female, adult or child, and almost no family in the United States today goes completely untouched by its effects. Alcoholism handles more family problems than any other single cause.

Throughout the history of the family, no other disease, addiction, or any other aspect has caused as much turmoil as alcohol. Alcoholism is a condition that can become a central organizing principle around which family life is structured. Due to the abuse of alcohol in a family, stress is applied in many different ways. This pressure may be attributable to marital conflicts, financial troubles, or even a simple change in family interactions (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia Preto, 2011). The stress is used as a scapegoat for the alcoholic who in turn can blame the origin of their problems on the family. It provides the alcoholic with a justification and the family with a continuous problem.

The alcoholic is affected not just by the physical symptoms of use, but change severely as a person as well. Because of this change, the family unit will also change the way it functions. The alcoholic may lose their job, forcing the significant other to obtain a second job. However, a greater problem than the alcohol itself is the denial that is a critical part of alcoholism as a disease. The alcoholic becomes preoccupied with denying their addiction; this preoccupation can and will eventually encompass their entire life (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia Preto, 2011). Through this, the alcoholic also gains a sense of control, and even invincibility. “The alcoholic is most often dominant, setting the rules and acting like a passive or aggressive dictator. The partner is reactive and submissive to the dominance of the drinker” (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia Preto, 2011).This reaction by the partner only strengthens the resolve and tenacity of the alcoholic. It forces the spouse and children to relinquish control over the family and in some cases their lives.

Alcoholism affects different family members in different ways. Young children of alcoholics have frequent nightmares, bed wetting and crying. They also may not have friends and be afraid to go to school. All family members of alcoholics are likely to have low self-esteem and a poor self-image. Each family member now has to develop his or her way of coping with the substance abuse. As children grow older, and the parent’s alcohol abuse continues they produce different symptoms from when they were younger. Children of alcoholics almost definitely feel guilty about not being able to prevent the parent’s alcoholism. This guilt drives the children to become reclusive and even self-destructive. The child may purposefully avoid the parents, and more often than not find fault with themselves rather than the abuser. Children of alcoholics are forced to grow up quickly.