Alcohol's role in domestic violence: A contributing cause or an excuse?

Objective: This paper reviews evidence regarding the deviance disavowal approach to alcohol-related violence. It focuses on whether alcohol intoxication is used to excuse domestic violence, and whether this can explain alcohol / violence association. Method: Four hypotheses derived from the deviance disavowal approach were identified, including (i) people accept alcohol as a cause of violence; (ii) people attribute less blame and punishment to intoxicated aggressors than to sober aggressors; (iii) the belief that alcohol causes or excuses violence should be associated with and predict the occurrence of alcohol-related domestic violence; and (iv) the administration of a placebo should increase aggressive behaviour. Results: The review suggested that some people do accept alcohol as a cause of violence, but that alcohol does not appear to mitigate blame, and this belief is not longitudinally predictive of violence. Conclusion: The evidence for a deviance disavowal model of alcohol and domestic violence appears quite weak.