Alcohol Outlets, Neighborhood Characteristics, and Intimate Partner Violence: Ecological Analysis of a California City

Abstract

Neighborhood indicators of social disadvantage, such as poverty and unemployment, are associated with intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite the well-established link between heavy drinking and IPV, few studies have analyzed the contribution of alcohol outlet density to the occurrence of IPV. Greater numbers of alcohol outlets in a community may be a sign of loosened normative constraints against violence, promote problem drinking among at-risk couples, and provide environments where groups of persons at risk for IPV may form and mutually reinforce IPV-related attitudes, norms, and problem behaviors. This study used ecological data to determine if alcohol outlet density (number of bars, restaurants serving alcohol, and off-premise outlets per unit area) is related to rates of IPV-related police calls and IPV-related crime reports in Sacramento, California. Separate analyses for IPV calls and crime reports were conducted using Bayesian space–time models adjusted for area characteristics (poverty rate, unemployment rate, racial/ethnic composition). The results showed that each additional off-premise alcohol outlet is associated with an approximate 4% increase in IPV-related police calls and an approximate 3% increase in IPV-related crime reports. Bars and restaurants were not associated with either outcome. The findings suggest that alcohol outlet density, especially off-premise outlets, appear to be related to IPV events. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which neighborhood factors, such as alcohol outlet density, affect IPV behaviors. Understanding these mechanisms is of public health importance for developing environmental IPV prevention strategies, such as changes in zoning, community action, education, and enforcement activities.

Alcohol use and intimate partner violence among women and their partners in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…This suggests that drinking prevalence, which varied markedly between countries, may have an impact on IPV that is independent of individual partner alcohol use. It is possible that the contextual effect reflects relaxed social norms and policies related to both alcohol use/availability and violence (Cunradi, 2010;Cunradi et al 2011), variable drinking culture and patterns between countries (World Health Organization, 2011), social disorganization and lack of community collective efficacy (Leslie et al 2015), and/or the density of drinking outlets, which facilitate the assembly of high-risk groups that may socially reinforce aggressive behaviors (Gruenewald, 2007). Overall, this finding supports the application of ecological models to describe the relationship between alcohol use and IPV as well as previous research that has identified an association between community-level social factors (e.g.…”

Concept Measurement in Alcohol Serving Establishment Research

“…Others, such as Groff (2011) expand this look at spatial density to include a look at how the presence of bars or taverns my influence spaces in close proximity. Some research looks at the influence of alcohol availability on the spatial proximity of particular crimes such as domestic violence (Cunradi, Mair, Ponicki, & Remer, 2011). Other research consolidates counts to determine concentrations or "hot spots" of liquor availability and crime (see Gorman, Li, & Horel, 2005).…”

Joint Modeling of Multiple Crimes: A Bayesian Spatial Approach

“…This is changing, however, as more researchers have become aware of the advantages of Bayesian spatial models. A small but growing body of research has adopted Bayesian spatial modeling approaches in crime analysis [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. For example, researchers using Bayesian spatial models have investigated contextual influences on domestic violence [12,15,18], juvenile offenders [14] and property crime [13].…”