Running head: ALCOHOL AND FAMILY VIOLENCE

Alcohol and Family Violence

Amber McKenna
BSHS/406
March 28, 2016
Meredith Sharp

ALCOHOL AND FAMILY VIOLENCE

Alcohol and Family Violence

In this paper I will discuss the following information: A historical perspective on how
alcohol and family violence have been impacted by legislative changes, The impact of alcohol
abuse on both the addicted individual and the victims, The impact of family violence on both the
perpetrator of family violence and those exposed to family violence, Intervention methods,
which could be applied to this family in crises and How the family rituals may affect the family
member in crises.
A historical perspective on how alcohol and family violence have been impacted by
legislative changes. Alcohol is contained in the world; its use is acknowledged and optimistic. Is
a disease and an addiction is something that needs to be recognized in the world today and needs
to be treated as soon as it can. There are programs out there to help family members, friends and
even co-workers to show how they can help someone that is dealing with the disease of
alcoholism and try to be able to break the chain of alcoholism. The first step is to be able to
admit that they have a problem and need the help. Alcoholism disease on children can impact
that childs life in many different ways. Family Violence Is not something anybody should have
to go through or even children are a witness to it. The laws have changed to help people out there
that might be going through a time like this. There are many places that help people who are
victims of Domestic violence as well. They will help anyone who is a victim and will keep it
closed so no one can get information about the victim. Domestic violence has been one of the
most concerned issues for the authorities. Due to the complexities that it faces it is more difficult
to report and control the problems. The domestic violence could be of any kind be it the child
abuse, stalking, elderly abuse, intimate partner violence.
For a very long time the courts and police have not intervened in any of the above
situation especially the child abuse and they were reluctant because most people made them stop
by referring to the problem as family issue. And they were unable to do anything about it. But
then new laws were passed that gave them the liberty they needed to protect the innocent
children. (Kindschi, 2009)
The impact on alcohol abuse is on both the addicted individual and the victims around
them. The impact of alcohol abuse on both the indicted individual and those who may be around
them such as children and other family members the addiction often create interpersonal
problems for all family members. When alcohol abuse is being done it does not only affect them
but also the family, friends, and the society as a whole. The impacts of the individual and those
around them can be affected differently by the alcohol addiction. Substance misuse can
systematically consume an individuals life, morals, ethics and responsibilities start to fall one by
one by. Personal and professional social circles are also affected and if this is left undone this
could lead them to unfortunate consequences such as jail, prison, and even death. It also impacts

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the individuals loved ones witch have untold pain and heartache for those who is close to the
individual. It is a known fact that addiction is usually passed down through family generations
this means that loved ones often need to support multiple family members who have an
addiction. The addictions may not include all family members but someone in the family is likely
to become addicted to something and is brought down from someone else in the family who had
an addiction. According to Silverstein (1990), one of every four families has problems with
alcohol (Tetyana Parsons, 2003).
The impact of family violence on both the perpetrator of family violence and those
exposed to family violence. The Impact of family violence such as kids who are to witness
domestic violence are more than likely to show signs of behavioral and physical health problems
including depression, anxiety, and violence towards peers this could even cause the child to
become depressed and become violent when they grow up. These children are to be the ones who
give the effort to committing suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, engage in
teenage prostitution, and commit sexual assault crimes. The impact of family violence abuse can
bring a very serious impact on the way someone thinks and interacts with the humankind that
they are to be around them. The chronic exposure to domestic violenceand the stress fear
resulting from this exposurecan cause not only immediate physical injury, but also mental
shifts that occur as the mind attempts to process trauma or protect the body. Domestic violence
affects everyones thoughts, feelings and behaviors and can significantly impact ones mental
stability. Increased anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms are
commonly observed among survivors of domestic violence (Barnett, 2002). Over the past few
years, the general public in the United States has become familiar with family violence through
news coverage of highly publicizes cases, TV programs and movies. At the same time,
researchers have made great strides in recognizing the scope of family violence and the context
in which it occurs (Barnett, 2002).
Intervention methods, which could be applied to this family in crises. When it comes
to family intervention methods there are a few factors that need to be followed in Oder to help a
family in crises. The few factors are to have a dedicated worker that will be dedicated to a
family. The worker needs to practical hands on support to the family. Another factor is a pushy,
aggressive and a tough approach, also taking into consideration the family as a whole- gathering
the intelligence, common purpose and agreed action. Having an intervention worker that is
dedicated to the family need to make frequent visits sometimes maybe even two to three times a
day depending on how bad the crisis is with the family is dealing with. This will help the worker
put together a complete image of the family and bond with them at the same time. Another
method can be for the person who is going through a crisis is to seek counseling and the crisis
intervention has many purposes. What their job is to do is to aim to reduce the intensity of the
persons emotional, mental, physical and behavioral reaction to the crisis. This is to help that
person to return to the level of functioning they use to be in before this crisis ever happened. The

ALCOHOL AND FAMILY VIOLENCE

ones who are in involved in providing the crisis intervention are professionals in a rage the job.
This could be a psychologists, nurse, doctors, counselors, psychiatrists, fire fighters and so on it
can be just about anyone who is certified in this field of work. Crisis intervention have goals set
and these are to restore adaptive functioning, mitigate the impact of an event and to facilitate a
normal recovery process so when normal people are to have normal reactions to abnormal
events. When a crisis happens it can happen slowly or suddenly a crisis intervention specialist
can evaluate a crisis and give the proper advice on steps that need to be taken.
How the family rituals may affect the family member in crises. When a ritual is altered
due to Changing Health or Dealing with Family Crises or even dealing with death, where one
family member is affected directly by the change, the whole family is affected, but in different
ways. The family member actually experiencing the health change or crisis may have a very
different understanding of interactions than others may. Thus, family members may need to
explain their needs in ritual changes so others may better understand how to coordinate their
meaning of such changes, resulting in interpersonal meaning (Cushman & Whiting, 1972). The
relational maintenance strategy of Openness was particularly evident in many of the Internal
Influences on ritual changes. For instance, Dealing with Family Crises resulted in openness in
many couples relationships as did Learning About Each Other; couples engaged in
conversations about rituals they currently share, how such rituals might be improved, changed, or
abandoned. The relational maintenance strategies of assurances were common when couples
were changing rituals as a result of Dealing with Family Crises. The reason to help people that
might be need help in a time of their life of going through some type of crisis is to help prevent
them of hurting themselves or others. Sometimes it may only take someone to listen and
empathize to the person that is going through a rough time. It is very important that people are
supportive and non-judgmental toward the one who is going through the crisis.
Conclusion
When it comes to family violence it is very important that people study it cause in
order to find out what the problem is that caused one to hurt a loved one. It is also know that
there are a variety of different theories on what the root of family violence is and to make sure
that you are dealing with it the right way it will depend on which perspective is taken will
determine what measures are needed to be done to solve the problem. In what I have covered up
above I hope that it explains the following information: A historical perspective on how alcohol
and family violence have been impacted by legislative changes, The impact of alcohol abuse on
both the addicted individual and those around them, The impact of family violence on both the
perpetrator of family violence and those exposed to family violence, Intervention methods,
which could be applied to this family in crises and How the family rituals may affect the family
member in crises. Doing this paper has really taught me a lot and made me understand the
differences and which theories will work for which problem. All of these problems are very
serious and should be dealt with in the correct manner to make sure that more issues are not

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going to arise from the issues that are already in place. I have also learned that there are places
out there that can help you just have to admit that you have a problem or that there is a problem
so you can get the proper help and get yourself on the right track to recovery. Without admitting
there is a problem or addiction people are not going to be able to help the person and the victims.
There are more people who have addictions and that go through domestic violence then we
actually know. There are two of the most serious problems in the world that can be cured only if
they will admit to have the addiction and being an abuser.

References
Kindschi, D. (2009). Heavy hands: an introduction to the crimes of family violence.
Prentice Hall
National Alliance on Mental Illness, via rainn.org, Dissociative Identity Disorder,
Barnett, (2000).
Boddy, J et al (2012) Health-Related work in Family Intervention Projects. Thomas
Corum Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.
Cushman, D. P., & Whiting, G. C. (1972). An approach to communication theory: Toward
a consensus on rules. The Journal of Communication, 22, 217238.