By Dr. Jeanne King, Ph.D.

People often say my partner is abusive when he/she drinks. And from here, they deduce that they are involved with a partner/spousal abuser. However, that may not necessarily be so.

How do you distinguish between abuse associated with substance and/or alcohol abuse from abuse associated with intimate partner violence, as it’s defined in the professional literature? Here’s how.

Abuse that is a by-product of alcohol and/or substance abuse typically falls in one of two categories: a) reckless conduct and loss of inhibitions or b) drug seeking behavior.

The alcoholic or drug abuser will use abuse and violence to control his/her access to their substance. Whereas, the intimate partner abuser (the partner/spousal abuser) users violence to control his/her victim.

To recognize this distinction as it may manifest in one’s relationship, see the Intimate Partner Abuse Screen, a tool that brings clarity to what uniquely defines intimate partner abuse as distinguished from other conditions.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 8:12 pm and is filed under Abuse Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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