Family violence also referred to as domestic violence is the use of abusive behavior to dominate or cause harm to members of a family or to people they are in an intimate relationship with. It has always been a hot topic that people don’t seem to know when or where to draw the line. Most people push aside or ignore simple acts such as name calling, destroying and breaking belongings and hurting or threatening to hurt pets as domestic violence. There should not be physical harm only but emotional, financial and sexual abuse are all considered to be family violence. A major controversial topic is whether alcohol and drug abuse is the major cause of domestic violence as it has not been addressed comprehensively. Given that most cases are never reported and most victims suffer in silence which may cause them to commit suicide or harm themselves it is important to discuss this topic so that proper measurements can be taken to solve these problem.
There has been numerous cases of non-alcoholics being violent towards their family members and people with whom they are in in an intimate relationship with. They may lock their children and partners in rooms so that they may not associate with other people, punish their kids physically and denying them food and humiliate and embarrass their family members by name calling. Some of these people are out going and are not alcoholics or drug abusers or rather they are our colleagues, leaders in churches and religious people, mentors and public figures, and even politicians. Some of the perpetrators of family violence have a family history that they are not proud of, for some they were brought up in a violent family environment by their parents and have lived knowing that is how it should be. Some have mental issues with managing anger they feel that they have to use violence in response to any situation while for others it’s just an addiction to have everyone under his control. It can be argued that association is not causation.
Alcohol and drug abuse go hand in hand with family violence. This is because drugs impairs the ability of one to distinguish between wrong and right and it makes a person to react aggressively to most situations. According to most researches done on family violence, 80% of the cases are caused by people addicted to or under the influence of drugs. Heavy drinkers are mostly associated with the need to be in control. Hence it can be argued that alcoholism plays a major role in causing domestic violence. Extreme alcoholism also leads to the neglect of ones responsibilities towards his family members.
From the discussion above it is important to conclude that the relationship between family violence and alcohol and drug abuse is a major topic for debate. This will help in making informed decisions when looking for possible solution for the menace. It continues to be a major challenge to the community as young children end up suffering the most in the hands of abusive parents, the victim also suffers which may even lead to death and the offender needs to be rehabilitated or action taken towards him to prevent him from harming his family.
