Criminal Justice Involvement and Service Need Among Drug-Involved Men who Perpetrate Intimate Partner Violence

PURPOSE: To date, most research on perpetrators of male-to-female intimate partner violence (IPV) relies on samples of men in batterers intervention programs, many of whom are mandated to attend such programs via the criminal justice system. Thus, there is not only a need to increase our knowledge using data from male perpetrators of IPV not sampled from batterers intervention programs, but also a need for greater understanding about the relationship between criminal justice involvement and perceived level of service needs that may drive them to receive services. Building upon research demonstrating a strong link between drug abuse and perpetration of IPV, this study utilized a sample of men attending methadone maintenance treatment programs (MMTPs) who reported perpetrating IPV against their female partners to examine associations between criminal justice involvement and perceived need for additional services. METHODS: Randomly selected men attending MMTPs in New York City who participated in a longitudinal panel study and reported perpetrating IPV against a female partner were re-interviewed to gather additional data regarding their perceived need for services. Participants provided self-reported data on sociodemographics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, treatment duration); illicit drug use, criminal justice involvement (i.e., time since most recent arrest and/or incarceration), use of supplemental services (e.g., medical, employment, legal) and perceived need for services using the Treatment Services Review. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between criminal justice involvement and current perceived need for services, controlling for sociodemographics, illicit drug use, and supplemental services received. RESULTS: Among the sample of 119 men who reported a history of criminal justice involvement (i.e., arrested and/or incarcerated), the mean age of participants was 48 years (SD=8.0), with 46% identifying as Latino and 38% as Black/African American. Among this sample, the mean time since last arrest was 7.0 years (SD=7.6) and incarceration was 8.4 years (SD=8.8). Participants reported an average of 3.6 types of service needs (SD=1.9), and 93% of the sample reported at least 1 type of service need. The most frequently service need reported was medical (82%), followed by employment (66%), legal (55%), psychological (55%), and family services (47%). Multivariate analyses indicate a significant negative association between time since last arrest and need for medical services (adjusted OR=.91, p<.01), legal services (adjusted OR=.93, p=.02), family services (adjusted OR=.93, p=.04), psychological services (adjusted OR=.94, p=.05), any service need (adjusted OR=.81, p<.01), and number of types of services needed (b=-.08, p<.01). Parallel analyses using time since most recent incarceration indicate a significant negative association with perceived need for medical services (adjusted OR=.89, p<.01), any service need (adjusted OR=.89, p=.04), and number of types of services needed (b=-.05, p=.04). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that drug-involved men who perpetrate IPV that are not court-mandated to batterers intervention program do report having service needs, suggesting that drug treatment represents a valuable venue to engage perpetrators of IPV in a wider spectrum of services. Furthermore, perceived service needs appear to be more present for those with more recent criminal justice involvement.