Session: Current and Future Strategies to Address Substance Use and Violence (Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference - Social Work Science for Racial, Social, and Political Justice)

The co-occurring public health problems of substance use and domestic violence/intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) have been documented for more that 30 years with estimates suggesting that substance use is involved in 40 to 60% of incidents of DV/IPV in the United States. Though the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and other Federal agencies have called for greater attention screening for and assessment of the need for DV/IPV services, substance use and DV/IPV are often seen as separate issues in terms of screening and assessment, and treatment. Further, screening may not include the gathering of information on adverse childhood events including child abuse and exposure to family violence which are associated with both substance use and DV/IPV in adulthood. Addressing DV/IPV are particularly challenging in rural communities that experience significant disparities in funding and access to services such as substance use treatment that might reduce or prevent DV/IPV.

The three research papers focus on three inter-related issues related to addressing co-occurring substance use and DV/IPV. The first paper uses data from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (NSSAT-S) to examine the current response in a sample of regular and intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment programs (N=12,759). Data is presented that highlights organizational and service characteristics predict the provision of DV/IPV services in this national sample. The second paper takes an innovative approach examine the link between an expanded adverse childhood events (ACEs) survey to examine the risk for adult cannibals use. The authors provide insight into how early intervention efforts to reduce the impact of violence may help reduce later risk for cannabis use disorders in adulthood. The third paper examines disparities in violence prevention and intervention efforts that are experienced by rural communities. The authors highlight a lack of opportunity for violence prevention and intervention efforts and provide recommendations for holistic approaches to enhance equity.