Does Alcohol Cause Violence and Aggression?

There is an extensive research literature that has studied the relationship between excessive alcohol use, alcoholism, and violence. This review examines the evidence that alcohol use meets criteria as a causal influence on violence, contributing to the likelihood and severity of violence. Several theories that explain the processes underlying this causal influence are reviewed, including alcohol expectancies, alcohol-related cues as cognitive primes of aggressive behavior, and psychopharmacological or “alcohol myopia” effects. This review emphasizes that, in addition to being contributory, the nature of the causal relationship is also conditional. That is, alcohol causes violence for certain persons under certain circumstances. The current challenges for alcohol-violence researchers are to predict under what circumstances and for whom excessive drinking plays a significant role in violent behavior and to intervene to reduce the frequency and severity of alcohol-related violence.