Alcohol, gender, and violence: Factors influencing blame for partner aggression.

Publisher: John Wiley And Sons Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8404861 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1099-0798 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 07353936 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Behav Sci Law Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: New York, N.Y. : John Wiley And Sons
Original Publication: [New York, N.Y. : Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1983-

Crime Victims* ; Intimate Partner Violence*; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Violence ; Aggression ; Interpersonal Relations

Alcohol use has been associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) and reduced perpetrator blameworthiness, but this finding is not universal. Researchers examining alcohol and IPV-related blame often utilize vignettes depicting perpetrators who are sober and compare this to perpetrators depicted as more or less intoxicated. In this study, participants read one of three vignettes depicting male-to-female physical IPV. We compared participants' blame attributions across three conditions: perpetrator sober, perpetrator intoxicated-infrequent drinker, and perpetrator intoxicated-frequent drinker. Alcohol did not mitigate perpetrator blameworthiness for the assault; however, only the intoxicated-frequent drinker was rated as more blameworthy for his violence than the sober perpetrator. Participants also reported their own IPV perpetration, drinking behaviors, and gender role beliefs. Traditional gender role beliefs and a history of IPV perpetration were associated with shifting some of the blame onto the victim, and this was true for both men and women, especially when the perpetrator was described as a frequent drinker. Researchers should consider whether their alcohol vignettes might depict a behavior as reflecting the situation or the drinker's character, as this may impact their results. Furthermore, different observer characteristics may differentially predict blame attribution.
(© 2022 The Authors. Behavioral Sciences & The Law published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Adolfsson, K., & Strömwall, L. A. (2017). Situational variables or beliefs? A multifaceted approach to understanding blame attributions. Psychology, Crime and Law, 23(6), 527-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2017.1290236.
Ahmadabadi, Z., Najman, J. M., Williams, G. M., Clavarino, A. M., & d’Abbs, P. (2021). Gender differences in intimate partner violence in current and prior relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(1-2), 915-937. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517730563.
Baber, K., & Tucker, C. (2006). The social roles questionnaire: A new approach to measuring attitudes towards gender. Sex Roles, 54(7-8), 459-567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9018-y.
Bell, S. T., Kuriloff, P. J., & Lottes, I. (1994). Understanding attributions of blame in stranger rape and date rape situations: An examination of gender, race, identification, and students’ social perceptions of rape victims. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(19), 1719-1734. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1994.tb01571.x.
Bongiorno, R., McKimmie, B. M., & Masser, B. M. (2016). The selective use of rape-victim stereotypes to protect culturally similar perpetrators. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(3), 398-413. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316631932.
Bryant, S., & Spencer, G. (2003). University students’ attitudes about attributing blame in domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 18(6), 369-376.
Bushman, B. J., & Cooper, H. M. (1990). Effects of alcohol on human aggression: An integrative research review. Psychological Bulletin, 107(3), 341-354. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.3.341.
Cafferky, B., Mendez, M., Anderson, J., & Smith, S. (2016). Substance use and intimate partner violence: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of Violence, 8(1), 110-131. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000074.
Caldwell, J. E., Swan, S. C., & Woodbrown, V. D. (2012). Gender differences in intimate partner violence outcomes. Psychology of Violence, 2(1), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026296.
CDC. (2021). Fast facts: Preventing intimate partner violence. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/fastfact.html.
Chermack, S. T., & Taylor, S. P. (1995). Alcohol and human physical aggression: Pharmacological versus expectancy effects. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 56(4), 449-456. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsa.1995.56.449.
Collins, R. L., Parks, G. A., & Marlatt, G. A. (1985). Social determinants of alcohol consumption: The effects of social interaction and model status on the self-administration of alcohol. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53(2), 189-200. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.53.2.189.
Conroy, N. E., & Crowley, C. G. (2022). Extending Johnson’s typology: Additional manifestations of dating violence and coercive control. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(15-16), NP13315-NP13341. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211005149.
Critchlow, B. (1985). The blame in the bottle: Attributions about drunken behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11(3), 258-274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167285113003.
Dardis, C. M., Edwards, K. M., Kelley, E. L., & Gidycz, C. A. (2020). Exploring cross-day associations among intimate partner violence victimization, relationship investment, and perpetration among undergraduate men and women: A daily diary approach. Psychology of Violence, 10(5), 552-563. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000293.
Devries, K. M., Mak, J. Y., Garcia-Moreno, C., Petzold, M., Child, J. C., Falder, G., Watts, C. H., Bacchus, L. J., Engell, R. E., Rosenfeld, L., Pallitto, C., Vos, T., & Abrahams, N. (2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner violence against women. Science, 340(6140), 1527-1528. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1240937.
Dichter, M. E., Thomas, K. A., Crits-Christoph, P., Ogden, S. N., & Rhodes, K. V. (2018). Coercive control in intimate partner violence: Relationship with women’s experience of violence, use of violence, and danger. Psychology of Violence, 8(5), 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000158.
Erickson, K. A., Jonnson, M., Langille, J. I., & Walsh, Z. (2017). Victim gender, rater attitudes, and rater violence history influence perceptions of intimate partner violence. Violence & Victims, 32(3), 533-544. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-15-00086.
Fernández-González, L., O’Leary, K. D., & Muñoz-Rivas, M. J. (2013). We are not joking: Need for controls in reports of dating violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(3), 602-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512455518.
Flood, M., & Pease, B. (2009). Factors influencing attitudes to violence against women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10(2), 125-142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334131.
Fossos, N., Neighbors, C., Kaysen, D., & Hove, C. (2007). Intimate partner violence perception and problem drinking among college students: The roles of expectancies and subjective evaluations of alcohol aggression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68(5), 706-713. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2007.68.706.
Giancola, P. R. (2000). Executive functioning: A conceptual framework for alcohol-related aggression. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 8(4), 576-597. https://doi.org/10.1037/1064-1297.8.4.576.
Giancola, P. R. (2015). Development and evaluation of theories of alcohol-related violence: Covering a 40-year span. Substance Use & Misuse, 50(8-9), 1182-1187. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2015.1010836.
Giancola, P. R., Josephs, R. A., Parrott, D. J., & Duke, A. A. (2010). Alcohol myopia revisited: Clarifying aggression and other acts of disinhibition through a distorted lens. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(3), 265-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610369467.
Giancola, P. R., & Zeichner, A. (1997). The biphasic effects of alcohol on human physical aggression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(4), 598-607. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.106.4.598.
Gracia, E., & Lila, M. (2015). Attitudes towards violence against women in the EU. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union.
Grubb, A. R., & Harrower, J. (2009). Understanding attribution of blame in cases of rape: An analysis of participant gender, type of rape and perceived similarity to the victim. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 15(1), 63-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600802641649.
Harrison, L. A., & Abrishami, G. (2004). Dating violence attributions: Do they differ for in-group and out-group members who have a history of dating violence? Sex Roles: Journal of Research, 51(9-10), 543-550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-004-5464-6.
Harrison, L. A., & Willis Esqueda, C. (2000). Effects of race and victim drinking, on domestic violence attributions. Sex Roles: Journal of Research, 42(11-12), 1043-1057. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007040701889.
Hines, D. A., Straus, M. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2020). Using dyadic concordance types to understand frequency of intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 11(1), 76-97. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.11.1.76.
Holmila, M., Beccaria, F., Ibanga, A., Graham, K., Hettige, S., Magri, R., Munné, M., Plant, M., Rolando, S., & Tumwesigye, N. (2014). Gender, alcohol and intimate partner violence: Qualitative comparative study. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 21(5), 398-407. https://doi.org/10.31109/0987637.2014.911245.
Johnson, M. P., & Ferraro, K. J. (2000). Research on domestic violence in the 1990s: Making distinctions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 948-963. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00948.x.
Katz, J., & Arias, I. (2001). Women’s attributions for hypothetical dating violence: Effects of partner alcohol use and violence severity. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(7), 1458-1473. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02682.x.
Katz, J., Arias, I., Beach, S., Brody, G., & Roman, P. (1995). Excuses, excuses: Accounting for the effects of partner violence on martial satisfaction and stability. Violence & Victims, 10(4), 315-326. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.10.4.315.
Key, C. W., & Ridge, R. D. (2011). Guys like us: The link between sexual harassment proclivity and blame. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28(8), 1093-1103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407511402420.
Koepke, S., Eyssel, F., & Bohner, G. (2014). “She deserved it”: Effects of sexism norms, type of violence, and victim’s pre-assault behavior on blame attributions toward female victims and approval of the aggressor’s behavior. Violence Against Women, 20(4), 446-464. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214528581.
Lane, B., & Knowles, A. (2000). Community attitudes to domestic violence: Attributions of responsibility, and suggested punishments related to alcohol consumption and level of violence. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 7(1), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218710009524970.
Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Misra, T. A., Selwyn, C., & Rohling, M. L. (2012). Rates of bidirectional versus unidirectional intimate partner violence across samples, sexual orientations, and race/ethnicities: A comprehensive review. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 199-230. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.199.
Lee, D., Allwood, R., Weinstein, M., & Sullivan, K. (2016). Interviewer: Are women and girls ever responsible for the domestic violence they encounter? student: No, well, unless they did something really, really bad. Journal of Gender Studies, 25(5), 571-585. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2015.1070711.
Lee, K. D. M., Rodriguez, L. M., Edwards, K. M., & Neal, A. M. (2020). Emotional dysregulation and intimate partner violence: A dyadic perspective. Psychology of Violence, 10(2), 162-171. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000248.
Leonard, K. (2002). Alcohol’s role in domestic violence: A contributing cause or an excuse? Alcohol and Marital Violence, 101, 9-14. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0447.106.s412.3.x.
Leonard, K. E., & Quigley, B. M. (2017). Thirty years of research show alcohol to be a cause of intimate partner violence: Future research needs to identify who to treat and how to treat them. Drug and Alcohol Review, 36(1), 7-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12434.
Lila, M., Gracia, E., & Catalá-Miñana, A. (2020). More likely to dropout, but what if they don’t? Partner violence offenders with alcohol abuse problems completing batterer intervention programs. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(9-10), 1958-1981. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517699952.
Love, H. A., Spencer, C. M., May, S. A., Mendez, M., & Stith, S. M. (2020). Perpetrator risk markers for intimate terrorism and situational couple violence: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(5), 922-931. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018801331.
MacAndrew, C., & Edgerton, R. B. (1969). Drunken comportment: A social explanation. Aldine.
Martín-Fernández, M., Gracia, E., & Lila, M. (2018). Assessing victim-blaming attitudes in cases of intimate partner violence against women: Development and validation of the VB-IPVAW scale. Psychosocial Intervention, 27(3), 133-143. https://doi.org/10.5093/pi2018a18.
Mattson, R. E., Waters, A. M., Ortiz, E. G., Wagener, S. A., Midy, T., & Parker, M. M. (2021). It’s complicated: Incident- and observer-level predictors of blame and justification for reciprocated psychological and minor physical violence. Partner Abuse, 12(2), 179-204. https://doi.org/10.1891/PA-2020-0039.
Notestine, L. E., Murray, C. E., Borders, L. D., & Ackerman, T. A. (2017). Counselors’ attributions of blame toward female survivors of battering. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 39(1), 56-70. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.39.1.05.
Penone, G., & Spaccatini, F. (2019). Attribution of blame to gender violence victims: A literature review of antecedents, consequences and measures of victim blame. Psicologia Sociale, 14(2), 133-164.
Policastro, C., & Payne, B. K. (2013). The blameworthy victim: Domestic violence myths and the criminalization of victimhood. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 22(4), 329-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2013.775985.
Quigley, B., & Leonard, K. (2006). Alcohol expectancies and intoxicated aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(5), 484-496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2006.01.008.
Quinn, P. D., & Fromme, K. (2016). Individual differences in subjective alcohol responses and alcohol-related disinhibition. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 24(2), 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000065.supp.
Rhatigan, D. L., & Nathanson, A. M. (2010). The role of female behavior and attributions in predicting behavioral responses to hypothetical male aggression. Violence Against Women, 16(6), 621-637. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210370025.
Rhatigan, D. L., Stewart, C., & Moore, T. M. (2011). Effects of gender and confrontation on attributions of female-perpetrated intimate partner violence. Sex Roles, 64(11-12), 875-887. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-9951-2.
Richards, T. N., & Gillespie, L. K. (2021). Intimate partner violence perpetration, victimization, and overlap among serious juvenile offenders: Trajectories of emerging adulthood. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(21-22), 10054-10079. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519881000.
Richardson, D., & Campbell, J. (1980). Alcohol and wife abuse: The effect of alcohol on attributions of blame for wife abuse. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 6(1), 51-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616728061007.
Roach, A. L., Ermer, A. E., Coleman, M., & Ganong, L. (2022). Attitudes about intimate partner violence and alcohol consumption. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1-2), 726-742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520914583.
Sardinha, L., Maheu-Giroux, M., Stöckl, H., Meyer, S. R., & García-Moreno, C. (2022). Global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence against women in 2018. The Lancet, 399(10327), 803-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02664-7.
Steele, C. M., & Josephs, R. A. (1990). Alcohol myopia: Its prized and dangerous effects. American Psychologist, 45(8), 921-933. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.8.921.
Stewart, A., & Maddren, K. (1997). Police officers’ judgements of blame in family violence: The impact of gender and alcohol. Sex Roles: Journal of Research, 37(11-12), 921-933. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02936347.
Stewart, C., Moore, T., Crone, T., DeFreitas, S., & Rhatigan, D. (2012). Who gets blamed for intimate partner violence? The relative contributions of perpetrator sex category, victim, confrontation, and observer attitudes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(18), 3739-3754. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512447571.
Stith, S. M., Smith, D. B., Penn, C. E., Ward, D. B., & Tritt, D. (2004). Intimate partner physical abuse perpetration and victimization risk factors: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10(1), 65-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2003.09.001.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17(3), 283-316. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251396017003001.
Subra, B., & Bègue, L. (2014). Alcohol as an excuse: The role of aggressor’s alcohol intoxication on attribution of responsibility and blame. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale, 27(1), 5-34.
Tryggvesson, K., & Bullock, S. L. (2006). Is it a fight or are they just drunk? Attributions about drunken behaviour in a hypothetical male-to-male aggression scenario. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 7(1), 61-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/14043850500404205.
Untied, A., Orchowski, L., & Lazar, V. (2013). College men’s and women’s respective perceptions of risk to perpetrate or experience sexual assault: The role of alcohol use and expectancies. Violence Against Women, 19(7), 903-923. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213498216.
Wareham, J., Blackwell, B. S., Berry, B., & Boots, D. P. (2019). Complainant’s physical attractiveness and juristic judgments of blame and punishment in physical, domestic, and sexual assault scenarios. Deviant Behavior, 40(8), 912-929. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1443877.
Watkins, L., Maldonado, R., & DiLillo, D. (2014). Hazardous alcohol use and intimate partner aggression among dating couples: The role of impulse control difficulties. Aggressive Behavior, 40(4), 369-381. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21528.
Wild, C., Graham, K., & Jürgen, R. (1998). Blame and punishment for intoxicated aggression: When is the perpetrator culpable? Addiction, 93(5), 677-687. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.9356774.x.
Witte, T., Kopkin, M., & Hollis, S. (2015). Is it dating violence or just “drunken behavior’? Judgements of intimate partner violence when the perpetrator us under the influence of alcohol. Substance Use & Misuse, 50(11), 1421-1426.
Witte, T. H., Schroeder, D. A., & Lohr, J. M. (2006). Blame for intimate partner violence: An attributional analysis. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(6), 647-667. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2006.25.6.647.
Worden, A. P., & Carlson, B. E. (2005). Attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence: Results of a public opinion survey: II beliefs about causes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(10), 1219-1243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260505278531.

Keywords: alcohol use; attributions for violence; blame; intimate partner violence; intoxication

Date Created: 20221208 Date Completed: 20230605 Latest Revision: 20230605

20230605

10.1002/bsl.2604

36480212