Domestic violence and substance abuse: tackling complexity

Abstract

Domestic violence and substance use are issues which pervade social work practice, yet are often on the margins of the knowledge base for practitioners and their managers. This article provides an overview of the literature on substance use and domestic violence, highlighting the problems with the separation of both practice and policy in these areas. Research on substance use and the needs of women survivors of domestic violence are explored, alongside the more substantial literature on perpetrators of domestic violence and patterns of substance use. The problems of a simplistic analysis which suggest that there is a causal link between substance use and domestic violence are highlighted. Using data from an on-going research project, the sources of the continuing and dysfunctional separation of work in these areas are explored.