Loading...
Forty percent of cases of violence reported to the police are perpetrated by friends or acquaintances (i.e., nonpartners). Unlike in intimate-partner violence, the involvement of alcohol and drugs in such violence is not well understood. To learn more, researchers analyzed data on 489 new enrollees in substance-use treatment programs who had been screened for a study on violence prevention (76% men; 52% never married; 4% college graduates; 55% with earnings <$10,000/year).
Of all subjects, an impressive 83% reported psychological aggression toward a nonpartner (defined as threats or symbolic harm) in the past year, 60% had been physically aggressive, and 47% had injured a nonpartner. Rates of receiving psychological or physical aggression or…