Domestic violence Argumentative

This paper will explore two empirical studies about the causes of domestic violence (DV), also referred to as intimate partner violence(IPV). The first study, Associations of Couples’ Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood and Substance Use: A Dyadic Approach was written by Sabina Low and associates. This study focused on examining the role that alcohol and marijuana use has on IPV in couples’ relationships (Low, Tiberio, Shortt, Capaldi, & Eddy, 2017).

The data for this study is from a community-based sample of 323 young adults at risk for delinquency and their intimate partners (Low, et al. , 2017). The participates along with their partners reported on their own alcohol and marijuana use, and their partners’ IPV (Low, et al. , 2017). The study occurred over a 3-month period during the school year, and then the participants were followed annually for up to 15 years (Low, et al. , 2017). The study looked at the participants psychological, physical and sexual IPV (Low, et al. , 2017).

The authors concluded that the association between substance use and IPV was found in young adults. Participates who used more substances experienced greater IPV perpetration, and victimization compared to participates who used fewer substances (Low, et al. , 2017). Men who used only alcohol committed significantly more psychological IPV than men who abstained from both alcohol and marijuana (Low, et al. , 2017). Women committed significantly less psychological IPV if their partners abstained from both alcohol and marijuana use (Low, et al. , 2017).

But, women who used both alcohol and marijuana committed significantly more psychological IPV compared with women who used only alcohol (Low, et al. , 2017). Physical IPV on the other hand was not significantly related to the perpetration of physical IPV in for both women and men (Low, et al. , 2017). However, men did commit significantly more physical IPV if their partners used both alcohol and marijuana compared with men with partners who used only alcohol (Low, et al. , 2017). The second study is Risk Factors for Physical violence against Partners in the U.S. written by K. Daniel O’Leary and associates.

This study examined the unique and relative contributions of demographic characteristics, family of origin, and developmental, psychopathology, and dyadic risk factors for IPV in a national U. S. sample (O’Leary, Tintle, & Bromet, 2014). The data were collected, using a total of 1568 participant, consisting of 798 men and 770 women selected from the public use data file of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), which uses a multi-stage cluster sampling design (O’Leary et al. , 2014).

Face to face interviews were conducted at the participants homes, and to reduce the burden, all participants were assessed for any core psychiatric disorders, but other risk factor modules were administered selectively (O’Leary et al. , 2014). The authors concluded that both for men and women, two factors theorized to be of significance in childhood and adolescence were noteworthy risk factors, specifically, dating aggression, and having been diagnosed with intermittent quick-tempered disorder before the age of 20 (O’Leary et al. , 2014).

The observation of parental violence was a risk factor for men, but not for women (O’Leary et al. , 2014). Circumstances that occur in one’s adult life, like being physically victimized by a partner and marital/relationship strain, were also important risk factors for physical aggression (O’Leary et al. , 2014). The authors stated that they cannot say that the observation of family violence as a child led to dating aggression, but it was a risk factor (O’Leary et al. , 2014). Also, alcohol abuse has been shown to be good predictor of later physical aggression (O’Leary et al. , 2014).

Limitations / Weaknesses

The first study had limitations, such as it limited the use of more serious drugs that carry serious health and behavioral consequences, like heroin and cocaine, by both men and women (Low et al. , 2017). The sample also mainly consisted of European Americans, from a medium-sized metropolitan area, and did not look at members of other racial/ethnic groups and areas (Low et al. , 2017). The study also did not look at the severity of the IPV, such as minor vs. major physical IPV (Low et al. , 2017). The study only examined associations between IPV and categories of substance users, but not the amount of substances used (Low et al., 2017).

It also did not look at the amount of use or the pattern of use, which could have generated a better understanding of the role of substances on IPV (Low et al. , 2017). Another limitation of this study was the use of self-report data. This is not always the accurate, because many people do not wish to reveal certain information about themselves, especially illegal behavior. They may even deliberately lie or embellish the information they give (Maxfield, & Babbie,2018). Respondents may be too embarrassed to reveal certain private information (Maxfield, & Babbie,2018).

Self-report studies are also fundamentally biased by the person’s feelings at the time they filled out the survey (Maxfield,2018). In the second study, the limitations included the samples, which did not include any non-English speaking participants (O’Leary et al. , 2014). Also, the nonresponse and response bias related to mental illness is a potential source of bias (O’Leary et al. , 2014). The assessment of IPV focused only on one part of IPV, which was physical violence (O’Leary et al. , 2014). The predictors of sexual violence within a marriage may be different from the predictors of physical violence.

There was little research on the possible predictors of physical and sexual violence in this sample (O’Leary et al. , 2014). The assessment of child abuse was one item, being abused as a child, may have had an effect on physical abuse in subjects (O’Leary et al. 2014). This study, like the fisrt study had a limitation due to the of use self-report data. Many people do not wish to disclose certain information, especially illegal behavior in which many participants will deliberately lie or embellish the information they give (Maxfield,2018).

Criminological Theories

Both empirical studies show that the social learning theory may be the cause of domestic violence. They emphasized observational learning within the family, including the exposure to parental violence and being abused as a child (O’Leary et al, 2014). Social learning theories propose that children who were abused by their parents learned aggression and had aggressive patterns of social interaction from their families and expressed these behaviors outside of the family and later to their intimate partners (O’Leary et al. , 2014).

The observation of parental violence has been examined more than almost any other risk factor for physical IPV (O’Leary et al. 2014). Another theory that relates to IPV and substance abuse is the psycho-pharmacological, which attributes to violence and the effects on behavior due to the use of a substance (Erickson, 2001). With this theory an individual can become unreasonable, agitated, or irritable and engage in impulsive violent acts (Erickson, 2001). Also, acts of DV can result in the abuser committing crimes against the victim when frustrated about getting money for the purchase of drugs needed to support their addiction (Erickson,2001).