Why Anger Management Does not Always Prevent Domestic Violence in Las Vegas

 When it comes to family issues, domestic violence incidents tend to branch out from simple situations into complicated cases. As such, many of the solutions suggested by people studying such cases involve dealing with the possible root causes of the issue to prevent things from escalating further. One of these offered solutions is anger management.

While it is true that domestic abuse cases involve a host of strong emotions both during and after the alleged act, they aren’t always part of the core issues in all cases. Anger management may only work with what’s on the surface and fail to correct the underlying problems related to the domestic abuse case. Let’s look at why anger management does not always prevent domestic violence in Las Vegas.

Why Anger Management?

Before we go further, let’s look at why anger management seems to be a go-to solution for incidents of domestic violence. As listed in some corrective service guidelines, convicted domestic violence offenders are expected to spend time in an anger management program to help deal with their emotional issues. It could either be a full-blown program in lieu of prison time, or part of the prison sentence is suspended in exchange for a house arrest and a visit to a staggered anger management course.

The intent is pretty straightforward: by learning to control their emotions, it is hoped that domestic abuse offenders will be able to better handle family problems and avoid resorting to violence in the long run. The long-term aim is to teach the offender to use other methods to deal with issues and conflicts at home.

So, Why Does It Not Work?

One of the common misconceptions about domestic violence among people not familiar with the subject is that anger alone drives domestic abusers to commit these acts. They think that by simply being able to have a handle on emotional outbursts, particularly those episodes of extreme rage and anxiety, they can minimize, if not outright avoid, a repeat of domestic abuse incidents in the future.

This belief is one of the misconceptions that domestic abuse advocates often refute. They always point out that domestic violence is not about anger, but control of another person at all levels. They insist that, for a person to really turn away from a life of domestic coercion and control, they need to stop using violent methods to influence how their partner acts and thinks. Focusing on the anger aspect does not even scratch the main point of domestic abuse in the first place.

What Really Matters

It is commendable that people want to offer solutions that they believe will help minimize the incidents of domestic abuse happening across Las Vegas in particular, and the country as a whole. Understanding how perpetrators feel and act is a decent first step, as they try to step in the person’s shoes and determine what motivates them to act in a certain way.

However, not all problems can be solved by dealing with the visible issues; there are many pertinent problems that experts need to look into deeper to get better results. They can look at things that motivate (or in this case, demotivate) alleged domestic violence offenders, and seek ways to alleviate these problems for a more long-term solution. They may even find ways to minimize false convictions for alleged domestic violence offenders along the way.

Working on anger issues for domestic violence defendants is a good start, but it doesn’t always reach into the core of the issue, and it is never the same situation for each case. Legal and psychological professionals need to work out more effective ways to reduce domestic violence cases in the future through more effective methods and education. 

A Look Into Alcoholism and Domestic Violence

 There are many factors that are related to or can instigate domestic violence in Las Vegas. It could be stress, genuine animosity, a rough upbringing, jealousy, or any random trigger that is exclusive to the people involved. Each domestic violence case has its own story to tell, and how the circumstances come about are fairly unique.

One of the oft-quoted factors that people consider with regards to domestic violence is that the abusive partner is a raging alcoholic. While it is true that alcohol has properties that can alter a person’s behavior once enough of it gets into a person’s system, does it really have an effect on how a person behaves towards their partner? Let’s take a look into the relation between alcoholism and domestic violence.

A Look at Numbers

In the first place, why do so many people cite alcohol as a factor in domestic violence cases? It’s because it’s been recorded in multiple cases worldwide. World Health Organization records indicate that 55% of domestic abuse cases reported worldwide involved alcohol at least one way or another, mostly involving alcohol consumption prior to an instance of abuse.

On the other side of the scale, the victims themselves would often turn to alcoholism themselves to deal with the pain. Based on recorded cases, domestic abuse victims were 15 times more likely to abuse alcohol themselves after a bout of violence. Note that the number is a global average; the numbers may be higher or lower depending on the country.

How They Are Related

As stated earlier, many people automatically relate excessive alcohol ingestion to personality changes and mood swings that can lead to domestic violence. Others state that the domestic abuse factors in only when the person is truly drunk. Once they sober up, they eventually stop being abusive and may even claim no memory of the abuse in the first place.

Sobriety advocates and medical experts refute this reasoning quite regularly. They point out that alcoholism alone does not act as a trigger for domestic abuse, but is instead only one of many instigating factors for the incident. Sobering up does not always deal with the underlying issue; in some cases, alcohol is only a red herring and other factors are in play, but people may have ignored them.

Is Alcohol Really Significant?

On one end, experts argue that alcoholism is only one factor in a long list of many that can lead to domestic violence. On the other hand, national records indicate that at least 2/3s of recorded domestic abuse cases across the country involved the perpetrator drinking alcohol immediately prior to the incident. With this situation, it is understandable that people are confused about how alcoholism factors into domestic violence cases.

In the end, whether or not alcoholism and domestic abuse are totally related is determined on a case-to-case basis. It may just be an overlap of two negative aspects, or it can just be pure coincidence. It all comes down to the personal experience of the involved parties, the environment they live in, and other issues that may escalate the situation or not.

Domestic violence is a complex and intimate crime, affected by various aspects that may be unique to a case, or similar across a variety of recorded incidents. Whether or not alcohol is related to such cases will be determined in court.

Why is Circumstantial Evidence Important in Domestic Violence Cases?

 For any case that goes to trial, evidence plays a vital and decisive role in deciding the outcome. Legal testimony does not hold any weight if there is no definite evidence to back it up. Even if it is as small as an eyelash in the wrong place, it can go a long way to proving a defendant’s innocence or guilt.

However, not all crimes have a multitude of direct evidence to work with, and so involved parties will have to rely on circumstantial evidence to prove their claims. Circumstantial evidence plays a bigger part in charges like domestic violence in Las Vegas, where first-hand witnesses or on-scene evidence is often lacking. If you are facing domestic violence charges in Las Vegas for the first time, you’ll need to know why circumstantial evidence is important in domestic violence cases.

First of All, What is Circumstantial Evidence?

Circumstantial evidence is any kind of evidence that is not directly related to the alleged crime, but implies that the alleged crime took place. It could be any objects gathered from the crime scene long after the act happened, or any piece of second-hand information gathered from people near its vicinity. In some cases, it just has to be official records related to the concerned parties that can count as circumstantial evidence, like hotel check-in records, travel records, credit card payments and the like.

To take a domestic violence situation as an example, circumstantial evidence may include items like testimony and records of the time the defendant and the victim are at home, testimony from bystanders who were not directly involved with the concerned parties, and testimony from responding officers. These pieces of evidence aren’t always directly obtained from the scene itself, but if their implication of an act of domestic abuse happening is proven true, they can do much in leading to a conviction.

Why Should You Be Concerned?

As stated earlier, evidence plays a vital role in any crime; moreso if the case in question does not have any other witnesses besides the victim and the defendant. As domestic violence cases are often very intimate crimes done in the privacy of a person’s home, it can be next to impossible to find witnesses willing or able to provide credible testimony that can implicate a defendant. As such, prosecutors will often turn to circumstantial evidence to secure a conviction.

While circumstantial evidence can be inaccurate at times, many convictions in the past have hinged on a combination of these pieces of evidence to confirm a defendant’s guilt, perhaps at a higher percentage than most people believe. The Nelson Serrano case is one example where circumstantial evidence relating to business partnership disputes and money laundering would be instrumental in convicting the defendant for the murder of his business partners. The questionable financial records, as well as second-hand testimony from the relatives of the victims, formed a strong case against the defendant and led to his conviction for multiple murders. Considering how decisive circumstantial evidence was in the proceedings of this case, you can imagine how difficult it can be for your domestic violence hearing if you can’t disprove circumstantial evidence placed against you in court.

Circumstantial Evidence and You

Defending against circumstantial evidence in a domestic violence proceeding can be tricky; as stated in the previous section, it is oftentimes an intimate crime, and if you fail to account for this kind of evidence, you can be convicted on the implication that they’ve established. The natural reaction would be to gain your own set of evidence and testimony to disprove the prosecution’s claims, but you can just be as handicapped as the other party when it comes to domestic abuse cases.

The first and most important thing you must remember is to always consult with your domestic violence defense attorney. Their experience with such cases means that they will know what kind of response you can formulate to deal with such kinds of evidence; remember that despite similarities in domestic abuse charges, all cases have their inherent differences that are unique to each defendant. Never leave anything to chance; circumstantial evidence still has a high probability of being related to your case, after all.

You must never underestimate how vital circumstantial is to a domestic violence case, but you should not be intimidated by it either. As long as you have the assistance of a veteran domestic violence attorney on your side, you can be assured of getting a dismissal or a not guilty verdict for your domestic abuse case.