The Union College Psychology Department Speaker Series and Honors Colloquium welcome
Molly Maloney (’15), Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University
for a public lecture entitled
Predicting and Preventing Alcohol-Facilitated Violence
Thursday, April 17, 2025
12:45–1:50 PM • Karp 105
Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Interpersonal violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV), is a significant public health concern. It is estimated that approximately 30-50% of US adults will experience interpersonal violence in their lifetimes, the effects of which are cumulative. Consequences of victimization include but are not limited to suicidality, heavy substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, missed days of work, physical injury, chronic pain, and risk for future violence victimization. Meta-analyses demonstrate that three decades of prevention programming have not meaningfully reduced rates of interpersonal violence. Alcohol use is among the most robust predictors (and outcomes) of interpersonal violence but has been largely ignored in violence prevention programs. With a good understanding of how, for whom, and in what contexts alcohol leads to violence, alcohol use can be meaningfully targeted in violence prevention programming. This talk will provide a brief and integrative summary of work that has aimed to answer these important questions and introduce a novel approach to preventing alcohol-facilitated violence.