Dutton et al (in press) analyzed the current literature on correlations between substance/alcohol abuse and domestic violence. This analysis led to a hypothesis that domestic assault and substance abuse are not causally related; rather, both are symptomatic of another, underlying variable. A research project that measured personality traits in men who were engaged in domestic violence and substance abuse was then conducted that employed a variety of measurements and scales on violence, substance abuse, and personality traits on 154 men who engaged in domestic violence in three subgroups (self-referred, court-referred, and incarcerated men). The results of this research generally supported the existence of "the abusive personality" characterized by a borderline style, trauma symptoms, and attachment anger. (Dutton et al, in press)
Dutton et al's summary of the findings is worth quoting in full:
The major finding in the current study is that a new potential third variable exists to link wife assault and alcoholism. This third variable is a personality constellation comprised of an insecure attachment style characterized by anxiousness and intimacy-anger (Dutton et al., 1994), which coupled with parental rejection and lack of warmth, produces dysphoria as an inevitable result of intimate attachment (Dutton, 1998). The abusive personality experiences frequent trauma symptoms, dysphoria, powerlessness and chronic anger connected to attachment or intimacy. Substance abuse in the current sample may represent an attempt to suppress this negative affect. ... The resulting profile is of a sub-group of wife assaulters who experienced parental rejection and who currently experience extreme anger/anxiety in intimacy. The chronic insecure attachment experienced by these men makes them prone to intermittent episodic rage that is accompanied by drinking and expressed through verbal abuse and violence." (in press)
Despite being a correlational study, Dutton et al have pointed researchers and practitioners in a very important direction. Both substance abuse and the episodic violence of batterers could be symptomatic of underlying issues.
