Views on wife-bashing

Press, 6 July 1984, Page 7

Views on wife-bashing

A Christchurch social worker has reacted to claims by a senior lecturer in education, Dr John Church, that battered wives were no more likely to come from relationships where alcohol was a problem. Dr Church was reported in “The Press” of Monday as saying that the results of a study he had directed in Christchurch showed alcohol or low family income were

not necessarily likely to be Et in cases of wifeg. A social worker at the Alcohol and Drug Dependence Centre, Mr Ken McMaster, said the experience of the centre and overseas trends did not follow Dr Church’s study. “Dr Church may well be correct in saying that in his sample wives who were battered were no more likely to come from rela-

tionships where alcohol abuse occurred. It is our experience, however, that a significant correlation between alcohol abuse and battering exists,” he said. A study using a sample of 4000 cases of battering over a four-year period found 35 per cent of abusive partners had a significant alcohol problem, said Mr McMaster. Seven other studies found correlations of between 22 per cent and 85 per cent

using sample sizes of between 50 and 512 battered women.

“My experience of working with a group of men who are violent in domestic situations is that these men have learnt that violence is a way to resolve conflict While it is recognised that alcohol does not cause violence, alcohol does have the effect of lessening a person’s control over his behaviour,” he said.