Family Violence and Alcohol - Essay Example

Family violence & alcohol Owing to its legality, alcohol is a ubiquitous in many societies around the world and many individuals engage in alcohol consumption. In North America alcohol can be found in liquor stores, neighborhood convenience stores, grocery stores as well as in your local bar. Although alcohol is prevalent and easily accessible, it remains a harmful drug with the potential to kill, ruin lives and destroy families. Accordingly, one of the most insidious aspects of alcohol is that it is so freely available that we forget that it is a harmful drug with important health ramifications as well as a many important social consequences for individuals who choose to over indulge in alcohol. Violence is often attributed to alcohol use and alcohol-related fatalities remain an important concern in the United States. The following is an excerpt from an interview I undertook with Dr. Daniel Smith1, a clinical psychologist from the Alcohol and Family Violence section of St. Mary’s Clinic. His specialization is on the linkages between alcohol and family violence and the following is a concise transcript of our discussion (Agarwal and Steitz 40-55). Q: Good afternoon Dr. Smith. Thank you for taking the time to visit with me an discuss what you do with respect to family violence and alcohol abuse. A: My pleasure, please call me Daniel. Q: Ok, Daniel. May I ask, we all know that alcohol can be bad for us what are some of the effects of alcohol on people? A: Well, the psychological and biological consequences of excessive alcohol intake can have a direct impact on the lives of individual drinkers. The effects of alcohol abuse include distortion of cognition and perception, disinhibition, bad judgment and attention deficit. All of these factors can lead to conflict with other individuals, especially after an alcohol user has drank. With the progression of time, alcohol abuse if compounded and alcoholics face a variety of social as well heath ramifications associated with their behaviour. From a health perspective, alcoholics face health complications including liver damage, heart failure, and an overall decreased life expectancy. Alcoholics are also more likely to engage in other detrimental behaviors such as smoking cigarettes or taking illicit substances such as illegal drugs. They are also more prone to aggression and violent behavior, especially within the family unit. Q: You mention alcohol and family conflict. What is the relationship between these two variables? A: Alcoholism may lead to conflicts within the family unit, particularly with the respect to the relationship between parents and children. Alcoholic parents are unfortunately not uncommon and alcohol abuse has been proven to lessen the ability of a parent to act as a proper caregiver to children in need. Another component of alcohol abuse on the family is marriage instability, increased tension in spousal relationships and violence between an alcoholic parent and children. An alcoholic parent may be more likely to resort to violence when attempting to discipline misbehaving children and may also be more likely to overreact to a child’s behavior through violent means. Alcoholism creates tension in the family unit and is an important contributor to family violence, dysfunationality and even breakdown. Q: Are marital conflict and interrelated? A: Marital conflict is expected to increase if one partner is an alcoholic. Accordingly, increased tension and conflict are linked to alcohol abuse and excessive drinking. Violence is more likely in a relationship in which one of the parties is an alcoholic and studies have shown that the increased propensity for violence is directly attributed to the level of alcohol abuse witnessed within the spousal relationship. Sexual problems can also be attributed to alcohol abuse and marital satisfaction is reported to be decreased among heavy drinkers. Accordingly, many marriages end up in divorce as a result of one of the partners’ heavy drinking. Twenty five percent of divorced or separated individuals meet the criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse as compared to less than nine percent of those with stable marriages (Herd 30-54). Q: How does St. Mary’s Clinic try to resolve the family issues associated with alcoholism and violence? A: As has been discussed earlier, alcoholism leads to conflict and St. Mary’s attempts to tackle alcoholic behavior and approach the problem through a conflict resolution. There are various strategies and implementation mechanisms that are initiated to support and promote a healthy social environment. They emphasize the establishment of standards and sets of guiding principles meant to sustain alcohol prevention efforts. This is done by promoting healthy living and healthy working environments. Conflict resolution is proactive in nature and generally successful. Q: What role does mediation play at the St. Mary’s Clinic in seeking to resolve the family issues of alcohol and violence? A: Mediation is an important tool used to resolve many personal and family problems. Mediation may be one-on-one or may involve more individuals who have been affected by the alcoholic behavior and ensuing conflicts by an individual. An individual may approach a credible institution or organization or another individual to negotiate a solution and resolve conflict caused by alcoholism. The renowned international organization Alcoholics Anonymous – “AA” – plays an important role in mediating the conflicts caused by alcoholism abuse and alcoholism. From a facilitative approach, mediation provides a forum to discuss the problems caused by alcoholics and from an evaluative approach, this form of conflict resolution generally utilizes the knowledge of experts in the field (be they psychiatrists or former alcoholics themselves) to tackle the issues behind alcohol abuse. From this standpoint, the mediation approach is extremely effective. Q: Is Family Group Counseling practiced at St. Mary’s? A: Family Group Counseling offers an opportunity for disgruntled parents and spouses to talk about their worries and problems, set goals and consider strategies that can help in solving the problem. Since the consequences of alcohol abuse may extend to family members, neighbors and even the entire community, an individual may seek the help of conflict resolution professionals to act as mediators and to offer advice on how to overcome the challenges associated with alcoholism. Intervention is an important component of this approach and has been proven to successfully engage the alcoholic and force him/her to reflect upon past behaviors and seek to change the unhealthy and inherently conflictual alcohol abuse (Agarwal and Steitz 40-55). Concluding Remarks Alcohol use and abuse is unfortunately quite common. Although alcohol is prevalent and easily accessible, alcohol remains a harmful drug with the potential to kill, ruin lives and destroy families. Alcohol abuse has been proven to lead to conflict and violence and has extensive ramifications with respect to the social relations of an alcoholic. Alcoholism remains an important problem which causes a variety of social problems. St. Mary’s works each and every day with alcoholics as well as the victims of alcohol abuse within families. Only by addressing the root cause of these problems, namely alcohol abuse, can violence and these conflicts be resolved. works cited Agarwal, D.P. and H.K. Seitz. Alcohol in Health and Disease. London: Informa Health Care, 2001. Read More