Linkage of Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse Services, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 194123
• Author(s): James J. Collins; Donna L. Spencer; Jeanne A. Snodgrass; Sara C. Wheeless
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 165 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research Report
• Grant Number(s): 97-IJ-CX-0009
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

Computer-assisted telephone surveys were conducted of national samples of programs that offer domestic-violence and substance-abuse services, so as to identify how often and in what ways these two program types provide complementary services.

Abstract

Different questionnaires were used for domestic-violence program directors and substance-abuse program directors. The questionnaires focused on information about program directors, the programs and services provided, whether complementary substance-abuse or domestic-violence services were provided, barriers to the provision of complementary services, program director's attitudes about providing complementary services, and their beliefs about the substance abuse and domestic violence relationship. The interviews were conducted in August 1997. An unstratified simple random sample of 800 domestic-violence programs was selected for the survey, and a stratified random sample of 1,100 substance-abuse programs was selected. Program directors for both types of programs recognized that many of their clients had the complementary problem, and high percentages of the two program types screened for the complementary problem. One-quarter of domestic-violence program directors reported providing substance-abuse services to their clients; and 54 percent of substance-abuse program directors reported providing domestic-violence services. Domestic-violence program directors had less favorable attitudes than substance-abuse program directors toward providing complementary services. Substance-abuse program directors also were more likely than domestic-violence program directors to think that substance abuse was implicated in domestic violence, and they were more optimistic that substance abuse treatment could reduce future domestic violence among treated offenders. Logistic regression analyses showed that program directors who estimated that the complementary problem was more prevalent among their clients were more likely to direct programs that provided complementary services. Some implications of the study are drawn, and the report recommends that a demonstration/evaluation of complementary services for victims of domestic violence be developed and implemented. 17 tables, 52 references, and appended questionnaires and logistic regression results