The influence of alcohol consumption on increasing domestic violence in Karusandara sub-county, Kasese district

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Date
2015-06
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Publisher
Kampala international international: College Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to determine if calling the police for incidents of domestic abuse is influenced by substance use of either the abusers or victims. The primary data source was interview data from 419 women involved in a misdemeanor level incident of domestic violence, and who had either called the police themselves or had a call made on their behalf. A secondary and minor data source was police reports completed on these incidents. Calling the police was analyzed for three time periods: total calls to the police over the course of the relationship, the frequency of calls made in the six-month period prior to the presenting incident (the abusive episode which entered the case into the study), and the presenting incident itself. Substance use was measured in multiple ways: the general pattern of alcohol consumption in terms of both quantity and frequency, frequency drunk, subjective perceptions of the offender having a problem with alcohol or drugs, frequency and type of drug use. Results indicate that substance use by male abusers, but not by female victims, is related to police utilization. Offender drunkenness, rather than the absolute quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption. Escalates police utilization by abused women. This has the most consistent predictor of calling the police among the substance use measures. Frequency of calling the police over the length of the relationship is significantly associated with offender drunkenness, marijuana use, frequency of threats to the victim and hitting the victim, and race. A majority of women reported that their partners were either drinking or drunk ail the time of the presenting incident, and offender drinking was the modal cause of the conflict which led to the abuse. Most women called the police themselves, or asked a child, neighbor or friend to do so: one third wanted the offender arrested at the time they made the call. Substance use at the presenting incident was less predictive of police utilization than it was for the longer relationship history
Description
A dissertation submitted to the college of humanities and social sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a bachelors’ degree of social work and social administration of Kampala international university
Keywords
Social work and social administration, Alcohol consumption, Domestic violence, Ksese district
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