A Judge’s Guide

“We didn’t like the Mom; we couldn’t figure out why she’d lie for that guy. But we convicted
because we couldn’t get the picture of that little girl out of our minds.” 223
B. Dual Arrest Also Harms Children
When police unnecessarily arrest both parents, children may be displaced into foster care,
and removed from their schools and homes. 224 Understandably confused as to why their
battered mother would be arrested, children can easily come to distrust a legal system that
repeatedly punishes the victim. 225
XII. THE COEXISTENCE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
INCREASES DANGER TO CHILDREN.
A. A chemically dependent batterer needs treatment for both his decision to batter and
his decision to abuse substances. Abusers, their families and interveners too often use the
substance abuse as an excuse for the violence, focusing only on the addiction instead of the
combined problems. It has been proven that batterer’s intervention programs are more effective
if the substance abuse is also treated. 226 In this way the intervener can confront the batterer’s
“denial, rationalizations and faulty logic” regarding both the violence and substance abuse. 227
Judges can order random urinalysis or hair tests to determine whether the batterer is abusing
drugs or alcohol and if so, whether he is in compliance with the court’s order to abstain. 228
B. Interveners must utilize a screening tool to determine which batterers are substance
abusers. Specific assessments should be in place to determine the “the nature and extent of the
individual’s battering pattern and substance abuse problem.” 229 The screening must accurately
identify the severity and pattern of substance of abuse, to assist the intervener in assessing the
level of possible danger to the victim. 230 Such screening should occur as early as possible,
whether in a juvenile or family drug court, probation or parole intake units, or batterer’s
intervention program.
C. Since the victim is at greater risk for serious injury if the batterer is chemically
dependent, all safety planning must include screening for such behavior. One study found
that, at the time of committing their crimes, 60% of the batterers were under the influence of
alcohol, 231 while another found that fully 92% of victims report that their batterers used drugs
223
I handled this case as a prosecutor in Norfolk County, MA. in 1991.
224
See, Laurel A. Kent, Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Children: Alternatives to Laws
Criminalizing the Commission of Domestic Violence in the Presence of a Child, 2001 Wis. L. Rev.1337, 1355
(2001).
225
Id.
226
Oriel, supra note 6, at 495 ; and Gorney, supra note 6, at 229.
227
See Gorney, supra note 6 at 235.
228
In Travis County, Texas courts many judges will order immediate urinalysis tests to determine if a litigant has
used substances, and if such tests indicate continuing use, random tests are then ordered for the future.
229
Albert R. Roberts, Substance Abuse Among Men Who Batter Their Mates, 5 J. SUBSTANCE ABUSE
TREATMENT 87 (1988).
230
See Gorney, supra note 6, at 232.
231
Roberts, supra note 6, at 85.
261