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Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Abuse in Women Essay

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According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), twenty-four people per minute are affected be intimate partner violence. (2013) It is estimated that twelve million people in the United States alone are affected each year. Intimate partner violence includes anything from physical or sexual abuse to psychological abuse to stalking or threats by a current or former partner. This form of violence can occur among couples that identify with any sexual orientation. The CDC reports that individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual are at an equal or higher risk for intimate partner violence. (2013) Sexual intimacy within the relationship is not a requirement for violence to be considered intimate partner violence. (CDC, 2013) The …show more content…

(Catalano, 2006) Researchers Smith, Homish, Leonard, and Cornelius admit that it is well known that a risk factor for intimate partner violence is substance use. (2012) However, we have a very limited understanding of the association between specific substance use and intimate partner violence. These researchers set out to bring about a deeper understanding of this. For the purpose of this study, researchers examined intimate partner violence in the presence of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioid use, as well as poly-substance use of alcohol and cocaine and alcohol and marijuana. (Smith, et al., 2012) Further, this study looked at substance use and intimate partner violence and differentiated between perpetration and victimization. Alcohol and cocaine use disorders were highly associated with intimate partner perpetration whereas cannabis and opioid use disorders were more highly associated with intimate partner victimization. (Smith, et al., 2012) Individuals diagnosed with both an alcohol use disorder and a cannabis use disorder were reported to have a lower likelihood of intimate partner perpetration compared to having the diagnosis of any one substance use disorder. Having a poly-substance use disorder with the combination of alcohol and cocaine increased the likelihood of an individual to perpetrate intimate partner violence. However, if you remove the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder and only have a cocaine use disorder, the

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