Impact of Alcohol

The research question examines whether alcohol intoxication is a great risk factor for some types of violence than others, using data from the National Violence Against Women and Men Survey (NVAW). Indicates that people are extremely intoxicated when they physically have assaulted others and also offenders who commit sexual assaults were no more likely to be drinking than others that have committed physical assault. Simply the assumption of alcohol or too much can lead to many factors such as dehydration, vomiting, fights and can create a risk for the people around them because of too much alcohol in an individuals system. The present research examined whether alcohol intoxication is a greater risk factor for some types of violence than for other types. Specifically, they examined whether intoxication is a greater risk factor for assaults committed by intimate partners, acquaintances, or strangers and whether it plays a more important role in physical assault or sexual assault. Because most prior research focuses on specific types of violence, or examines violence generally, it has not addressed these issues.

The typical incident involving alcohol and violence is thought to be the drunk and violent husband or the intoxicated man starting a fight with another individual in a bar. Such stereotypes shape our thinking about the nature and causes of violence and help to simplify complex phenomena. However, the images may be misleading. For example, it is not clear whether men who assault their wives are more or less likely to be intoxicated than other violent offenders.

One might also predict that alcohol plays a more important role in assaults on strangers than on people who know each other. Strangers do not have as much to fight about as people who know each other. As a result, people are less likely to assault a stranger unless they are drinking. On the other hand, individuals are much more likely to have a serious grievance and a history of conflict with someone they know, even when they are sober. Thus, alcohol may exacerbate a contentious situation, but people who know each other may get into violent conflicts without it.

Past research suggests that offenders who commit sexual assault are more likely to be using alcohol at the time of the offense than offenders who commit physical assault. However, these differences may again be caused by gender differences in drinking. Virtually all sexual assault offenders are males, whereas only a majority of physical assault offenders are males. In addition, most victims of sexual assault are females, whereas most victims of physical assault are males.

In addition, a study of college students found that men who sexu- ally assaulted strangers, acquaintances, and casual dates were more likely to be drinking than men who sexually assaulted victims they knew well, such as dating partners and spouses (Abbey et al., 1996).

3. Hypothesis: