Substance Abuse Treatment and Domestic Violence

Target audience and instructional level of this course: foundational

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

TRAINING

Course Description

Improve your understanding of the connections between substance abuse and domestic violence with this course. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one person to gain control over another. It includes acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behavior exerted against children, adults and elders. Domestic violence has no boundaries and occurs across all socio-economic, political and cultural contexts. A plethora of factors influences domestic violence, one of which is substance abuse.

The association between domestic violence and abuse and dependence has been investigated by various authors (Gilbert et. al, 2001; Miller et. al, 2000) but a causal relationship cannot be inferred. While there is no direct cause-and-effect link, it appears clear the use of alcohol and other drugs is a major risk factor for domestic violence. Some studies support the idea that this is due to the similarity between the behaviors of perpetrators of domestic violence and substance dependence (Irons and Schneider, 1997). Common characteristics include loss of control, maintenance of behavior despite adverse consequences, minimization and denial. Others state that, by reducing inhibitions and distorting perceptions, alcohol and substance abuse encourage open aggression.

Substance Abuse Treatment and Domestic Violence

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the health care professional will be able to:

• Identify the key stages: from drinking and transition to early and ongoing recovery.
• Describe the therapeutic tasks and pitfalls that characterize Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse.
• Implement interventions with individual family members, as well as the system as a whole, helping to restructure roles, interactions and beliefs that have been shaped by addiction and abuse.
• Outline the importance of facilitating the family's use of outside sources of support.
• Apply knowledge from this course to practice and/or other professional contexts.

Keith C Klostermann, Ph.D.
RTI International

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