How prevalent is the co-occurrence between substance use and intimate partner violence in men and women prosecuted for domestic violence offenses

There has been a growing body of research focused on substance use and its potential role as a risk factor for the perpetration of intimate partner violence. Yet, previous research has had difficulty documenting the temporal association between substance use and intimate partner violence. The purpose of this archival study was to review 196 closed felony domestic violence files from Mobile County, Alabama between the years 1999-2006 and provide information on the co-occurrence of substance use and intimate partner violence for male and female perpetrators on the day of the violent incident. Results indicated that the co-occurrence of substance use and intimate partner violence was substantial. In 95 of 196 cases (48.5%), drug or alcohol involvement on the day of the incident was documented. Gender analyses found that male perpetrators were more likely to have been involved with alcohol and/or drugs the day of the violent episode than female perpetrators. Findings also suggest that the number of female intimate partner violence perpetrators (42.9%) is substantial and larger than anticipated considering that this sample was drawn from felony offenders of domestic violence.