The problem underlying this research effort is
situated within the larger context of aggressive behavior in general
and, more specifically, family violence. While family violence takes
on many forms (e.g., spousal abuse, child abuse, sibling brawls, and
elderly abuse), this study sought to address domestic violence between
intimate partners within an arrestee population in the Albuquerque,
New Mexico, metropolitan area. Prior to this data collection, there
were no data available in New Mexico that systematically documented the
concurrence of substance abuse and domestic violence, even though
some data sources indicated the prevalence of domestic violence
in Albuquerque. The focus of this study was to examine
levels of aggressive behavior during incidents of domestic violence in
relation to self-reported drug and alcohol use among an arrestee population
from Bernalillo County in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The research questions
motivating this project were: (1) Are acts of domestic violence committed
while the offender is taking illicit psychoactive substances,
as ascertained by self-reports? (2) For those individuals with domestic
violence charges, do urinalyses conducted within 48 hours of an
individual's arrest indicate the recent use of a psychoactive substance?
(3) Which substances are most prevalently associated with incidents of
domestic violence? (4) Is there a difference in levels of aggressive
behavior that is dependent on the individual? (5) Does the severity of
domestic violence increase with the presence of psychoactive substances?
(6) What differences (if any) exist between batterers who take
psychoactive substances and batterers who do not?
The data for this research were collected in
conjunction with the National Institute of Justice's Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring (ADAM) programs. At the time of this study's first release,
the ADAM program was operational in approximately 35 cities nationwide,
providing national and local profiles of drug use within arrestee
populations and the monitoring of drug use patterns. An extension and
refinement of the previous Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program (see DRUG
USE FORECASTING IN 24 CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1987-1997 [ICPSR
9477]), the ADAM program (see ARRESTEE DRUG ABUSE MONITORING (ADAM)
PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES, 1999 [ICPSR 2994)], 2000 [ICPSR 3270], and
2001 [ICPSR 3688]) is the United States government's primary source of
information on drug use among arrestees, and is one of the primary
research tools on drug use, crime, and other social indicators.
Quarterly interviews with arrestees selected using probability-based
(for males) and convenience sampling (for females) were conducted in
jails and detention facilities at each ADAM site. Urine samples were
also collected and tested for a core panel of drugs that included
cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and opiates. Because the drug screen
could not detect drugs beyond 72 hours after use, only arrestees who had
been incarcerated 48 hours or less were eligible for participation. The
ADAM interview provided demographic and descriptive data including race,
age, marital status, source of income, screens for substance abuse and
dependency, treatment history, arrest and incarceration experiences, and
participation in local drug markets. At the conclusion of the ADAM
interview, respondents were asked to provide a urine specimen that was
used to corroborate self-reports of recent drug use. After the ADAM
interview and urine collection process were completed, the respondent
was presented with the option of participating in the domestic violence
study. Permission to be interviewed was obtained from the arrestee.
Research staff defined a partner as a person with whom the respondent
had an intimate, romantic, or sexual relationship, whether they lived
together or not. They included both same-sex and opposite sex intimate
partners in the definition and used the terms intimate partner violence
and domestic violence interchangeably as defined in New Mexico statutes.
Originally, researchers wanted to interview only those offenders brought
in on domestic violence charges. However, the ADAM protocol would not
accommodate this arrangement, and the collection of domestic violence
data was predicated on the ADAM sampling strategy. Since all Bernalillo
County arrestees were included in the sample frame, interviews could not
be limited to domestic violence offenders. Therefore, the research staff
adapted their domestic violence instrument to focus the respondent's
attention on the most recent incident of domestic violence. The design
of the domestic violence instrument mandated that all respondents were
asked questions influenced by and based, in part, on the Conflict Tactic
Scale. Several methodological and logistical issues affected the
research efforts. Difficulties resulted from changes in the ADAM
instrument (with a new instrument implemented in 2000), shifts in
national sample collection protocol, jail facility staffing shortages,
and the merging of data sources. Users are strongly encouraged to obtain
the final report for this study, which extensively details each of these
issues. The research staff want users to be aware that self-reports of
race/ethnicity reflect an over- representation of minorities among
Albuquerque's arrestee population. Therefore, it is difficult to compare
Albuquerque's 2000 United States census figures to ADAM data due to the
differing treatment of terms such as "race" and "ethnicity." Standard
ADAM procedures required four quarters of data collection throughout the
calendar year. Each collection period, conducted once during a three
month period, was 14 consecutive days, with each collection day lasting
eight hours. The data in this collection are based upon survey results
from ADAM data collected during the third and fourth quarters of 1999,
the first, second, and third quarters of 2000, and the first quarter of
2001.
The domestic violence survey addendum was administered to
all arrestees from Bernalillo County in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who had
completed the ADAM interview and provided a urine specimen and were
willing to answer additional questions concerning domestic violence.
Please see ICPSR studies, ARRESTEE DRUG ABUSE MONITORING (ADAM) PROGRAM
IN THE UNITED STATES, 1999 [ICPSR 2994], 2000 [ICPSR 3270], and 2001
[ICPSR 3688] for the sampling frame used to collect the ADAM data.
All persons arrested and booked on local and state charges
(i.e., not federal and out-of-county charges) from Bernalillo County
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during 1999-2001.
Individual arrestees
The domestic violence addendum, a self- administered
survey, was given to arrestees in the sample who had completed an ADAM
interview, provided a urine specimen, and were willing to answer
additional questions concerning domestic violence. As part of the ADAM
data collection, a double-sided facesheet was used to collect
information from administrative records on all adult arrestees selected
for an interview. The ADAM adult interview instrument was used to record
information from voluntary, anonymous, and confidential interviews with
all male and female adult arrestees in the sample available for an
interview within 48 hours of the time of arrest. Urine tests were used
to detect the presence of several drugs in specimens provided by the
interviewees at the conclusion of the ADAM interview.
administrative records data, survey data, and clinical data
Demographic variables taken from the ADAM data
collection include respondent's age, gender, race, ethnicity, residency,
education, employment, and marital status. Other variables include the
three most serious arrest charges, heavy alcohol use, use of marijuana,
crack/rock cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other
drugs (ever and previous 12 months), age of first use of the above six
drugs and heavy alcohol use, and drug dependency in the previous 12
months. Demographic variables from the domestic violence survey addendum
include the sex, age, race, and religious affiliation of the intimate
partner. Other variables from the domestic violence survey include
whether the respondent slapped, threw objects at, pushed, grabbed,
choked, stabbed, shot, or threatened to harm the intimate partner and
whether any of these actions were attempted by the intimate partner in
response to the respondent. The frequencies of these specific events
within a 12-month and 30-day period are included. Respondents also
indicated whether they sustained or caused injuries such as a black eye,
bloody lip, deep cuts, burns, chipped or knocked out teeth,
miscarriages, or irritated or bleeding genitals. Respondents also
described the most recent physical injury involving their intimate
partner, the reason for the injury, whether alcohol or illegal drugs
influenced the incident, and if so, which drugs were involved. Questions
regarding the respondents' history of physical or sexual abused were
also asked.
Of the 796 completed ADAM interviews, 696 respondents
completed the domestic violence survey addendum. The total response rate
for completing the domestic violence survey component was 92.2 percent.
The survey instrument was influenced and based, in part,
on the Conflict Tactic Scale (Straus and Gelles, 1986).