Substance abuse has a profound impact on Americans of all ethnic groups. Many people are concerned about substance abuse, especially because it is believed that it has the major consequence of increasing rates of crimes such as robbery and "drive-by" homicides. Yet the physiological, psychological, and social effects of substance abuse extend well beyond acts by individuals against strangers; substance abuse has especially adverse effects on families.

Most individuals' illicit drug use occurs between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five, the childbearing years (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1993). About 10 million children reside in households that have a substance abuser (Blau et al., 1994), and a minimum of 675,000 children per year are neglected or abused by drug-or alcohol-dependent caretakers (Bays, 1990). At the same time that substance abuse increased, foster care placements increased by 30 percent between 1986 and 1989 (Kelley, 1992).

The extent of spousal abuse...