Wife Assault Among VA Alcohol Rehabilitation Patients

In a study of wife assault, the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) were administered to 218 patients in an alcohol rehabilitation program for military veterans. More than one-third of the patients reported assaulting their wives or partners in the previous year, and one-fifth reported committing severe assaults. However, a subsample of 33 wives or partners of the patients were almost twice as likely as their male partners to report assault. An examination of clnical records of 25 patients indicated that clinicians had identified some sort of "domestic violence" for only 20 percent of this subsample. SMAST scores and CTS scores were not correlated. A dysfunctional family of origin and previous arrest were associated with higher rates of wife assault, but military combat was not.