NCJ Number
189419
Date Published
July 2000
Length
111 pages
Annotation
The result of years of work by the Domestic Violence/Substance Abuse Task Force of the Illinois Department of Human Services' Domestic Violence Advisory Council, this manual outlines procedures that human service professionals can follow when they are serving clients with both domestic violence and substance abuse issues; it also provides guidance for forging collaborations between agencies.
Abstract
The task force reached a consensus on a number of key points. First, substance abuse problems and domestic violence overlap and they often co-occur; however, they are different problems that require different interventions. Second, there are multiple causes for both substance abuse and for domestic violence, and there is little evidence that one problem causes the other. Third, active substance abuse by the perpetrator of domestic violence or active substance abuse by the victim of domestic violence threatens the safety of the victim. Fourth, domestic violence impairs the opportunity for addiction recovery and threatens sobriety. Fifth, regardless of setting, workers in all fields will be more effective if they consider the perspectives of safety, sobriety, and justice for the people with whom they work. The core sections of this manual target four populations defined by the settings in which they would first be encountered by service providers: men in batterers' intervention programs, men in substance abuse treatment programs, women in domestic violence victim programs, and women in substance abuse treatment. The task force believes these four settings -- in addition to criminal justice, child protection, and public assistance -- are the settings where the confluence between substance abuse and domestic violence can be most effectively addressed. Procedures for intervening with special populations are also discussed, namely, racial and ethnic groups, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. An extensive appendix with supplementary information, screening tools, and sample documents is provided. 33 references