Implementing a Harm Reduction Approach to Substance Use in an Intimate Partner Violence Agency: Practice Issues in an Irish Setting

Partner Abuse ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Morton ◽  
Melinda Hohman ◽  
Amanda Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Substance Use Services ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Integrated Response ◽  
Reduction Approach

There has been growing recognition of the co-occurrence of substance use and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in women’s and men’s lives, yet many IPV service providers have not developed an integrated response to these issues. Fewer still have implemented substance use services from a harm reduction approach. This article outlines the approach, policy changes, initial outcomes, and learning points for an IPV agency in Ireland, which implemented a harm reduction response to female IPV survivors who were also using substances problematically. Barriers and challenges for staff and management seeking to coordinate and integrate service delivery on the dual issues are also presented.

Substance Use as a Coping Mechanism for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for Safety and Service Accessibility

2019 ◽  
pp. 107780121988249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay B. Gezinski ◽  
Kwynn M. Gonzalez-Pons ◽  
Mallory M. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Service Accessibility ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Post Traumatic

This study examined substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health (MH) among survivors of intimate partner violence, with data collected from 102 participants. Both survivors and service providers emphasized SUD and MH as top priorities and reported a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem coupled with increasing rates of heroin, methamphetamine, and pharmaceutical abuse. Emergent themes included (a) trauma impacts functioning, (b) substances as coping strategy, (c) weighing safety against need, (d) lacking SUD and MH services, and (e) need for comprehensive and culturally specific resources. Scarcity of funding demands cross-sector collaboration to support survivors.

“Being Married Doesn’t Mean You Have to Reach the End of the World”: Safety Planning With Intimate Partner Violence Survivors and Service Providers in Three Urban Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051987923
Author(s):  
Shannon N. Wood ◽  
S. Rachel Kennedy ◽  
Zaynab Hameeduddin ◽  
Ben Asira ◽  
Catherine Tallam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Personal Property ◽  
Safety Strategies ◽  
Urban Informal Settlements

Intimate partner violence (IPV) harms women physically, sexually, and psychologically. Safety strategies, or harm reduction techniques implemented by women undergoing recurrent violence, may help mitigate the negative health, economic, and social consequences of IPV. This study aimed to understand recommended and utilized safety strategies among three urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Semi-structured key informant discussions (KIDs; n = 18) with community-based service providers and focus group discussions (FGDs; n = 49) with IPV survivors were conducted. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated verbatim from Swahili to English. Inductive thematic analysis was used to structure codes. Convergence matrices were used to analyze emergent strategies by data source (service providers vs. IPV survivors). Women preferred safety strategies that they could implement unassisted as first line of harm reduction. Strategies included removing stressors, proactive communication, avoidance behaviors, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), economic, leaving partner for safety, child safety, and securing personal property. Strategies recommended by service providers and utilized by IPV survivors differed, with clear divergence indicated for leaving the abusive relationship, SRH, and personal property strategies. Innovative strategies emerged from IPV survivors for safeguarding property. Similar to upper-income and other low and middle-income contexts, women experiencing IPV in urban informal settlements of Nairobi actively engage in behaviors to maximize safety and reduce harm to themselves and their families. Integration of strategies known to be helpful to women in these communities into community-based prevention and response is strongly encouraged. Increased synergy between recommended and implemented safety strategies can enhance programming and response efforts.

scholarly journals What Role Does Substance Use Play in Intimate Partner Violence? A Narrative Analysis of In-Depth Interviews With Men in Substance Use Treatment and Their Current or Former Female Partner

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051987925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polly Radcliffe ◽  
David Gadd ◽  
Juliet Henderson ◽  
Beverly Love ◽  
Danielle Stephens-Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Sexual Jealousy ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Controlling Behavior ◽  
Substance Use Services ◽  
Male Authority

Few studies have examined intimate partner violence (IPV) in relationships where one or both partners are in treatment for substance use, from the perspectives of both members of a couple. This study used thematic and narrative analysis of the accounts of 14 men recruited from substance use services and 14 women who were their current or former intimate partners. Separate researchers interviewed men and women from the same dyad pair. The psychopharmacological effects of substance use (including intoxication, craving, and withdrawal) were rarely the only explanation offered for IPV. Violence was reported to be primed and entangled with sexual jealousy, with perceptions of female impropriety and with women’s opposition to male authority. Both partners reported adversities and psychological vulnerabilities that they considered relevant to conflict and abuse. Male participants were more likely to describe IPV as uncharacteristic isolated events that arose from specific disputes—either aggravated by intoxication or withdrawal or about substance use and its resourcing—whereas women described enduring patterns of abusive behavior often linked to intoxication, craving, withdrawal, and to disputes linked to raising funds for substances. In relationships where both partners used substances, men described the need to protect their partners from addiction and from unscrupulous others while women described highly controlling behavior. In relationships where women were not dependent substance users, they reported the combined effects of psychological and financial abuse often linked to recurring patterns of substance use and relapse. These findings highlight the challenges faced by practitioners working with male perpetrators who use substances as well as the need of those working with women who have been abused to engage with the ways in which hesitance to leave male abusers can be complicated by shared drug dependency.

Developing a Model to Address Mental Health, Substance Use, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Home Visiting Clients

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-159
Author(s):  
Darius Tandon ◽  
Deborah F. Perry ◽  
Karen Edwards ◽  
Tamar Mendelson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Home Visiting ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Psychosocial Risks ◽  
The Impact

Perinatal women enrolled in home visiting (HV) programs exhibit high rates of depression, substance use, and intimate partner violence (IPV). While HV programs have increasingly screened for these psychosocial risks, initiation and uptake of community-based services to address these risks remain challenging. This project used a community-engaged research approach to engage key HV stakeholders in developing the screening, referral, and individualized prevention and treatment (SCRIPT) model. We highlight how a group of key HV stakeholders—the SCRIPT Advisory Panel—collaborated with academic researchers to develop the SCRIPT model by reviewing literature on HV programs’ response to psychosocial risk factors and qualitative data obtained from mental health, substance use, and IPV service providers to whom HV programs referred clients. SCRIPT focuses on (a) screening for psychosocial risks, (b) developing partnerships with outside agencies to address these risk factors, and (c) establishing concrete and systematic processes for client referral and monitoring with outside agencies. SCRIPT provides a structured model for HV programs to systematically identify clients for key psychosocial risks and structure their referral and monitoring process when working with social service agencies. Future work should examine the impact of SCRIPT on mental health, substance use, and IPV service access and use by a vulnerable population.

scholarly journals Intimate Partner Violence and Structural Violence in the Lives of Incarcerated Women: A Mixed-Method Study in Rural New Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6185
Author(s):  
Shilo St. Cyr ◽  
Elise Trott Jaramillo ◽  
Laura Garrison ◽  
Lorraine Halinka Malcoe ◽  
Stephen R. Shamblen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
New Mexico ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Incarcerated Women ◽  
Intimate Partner

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common feature in the lives of incarcerated women returning to rural communities, enhancing their risk of mental ill-health, substance use, and recidivism. Women’s experiences of IPV intersect with challenges across multiple social–ecological levels, including risky or criminalizing interpersonal relationships, geographic isolation, and persistent gender, racial, and economic inequities. We conducted quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with 99 incarcerated women in New Mexico who were scheduled to return to micropolitan or non-core areas within 6 months. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and then triangulated to identify convergences and divergences in data. The findings underscore how individual and interpersonal experiences of IPV, substance use, and psychological distress intersect with broad social inequities, such as poverty, lack of supportive resources, and reluctance to seek help due to experiences of discrimination. These results point to the need for a more proactive response to the mutually constitutive cycle of IPV, mental distress, incarceration, and structures of violence to improve reentry for women returning to rural communities. Policy and treatment must prioritize socioeconomic marginalization and expand community resources with attention to the needs of rural women of color.

Associations between Substance Use and Depressive Symptoms among Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Lacy E. Jamison ◽  
Kathryn H. Howell ◽  
Kristina M. Decker ◽  
Laura E. Schwartz ◽  
Idia B. Thurston
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner
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