How and How Much: Combined Services for Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse.

This study generates practice-based evidence about organizational strategies for addressing co-occurring domestic violence (DV) and substance abuse (SA) using a survey of organizations working on both issues (N = 204). How (the strategies) and how much (the extensiveness) organizations attend to both issues vary by organizational type (DV, SA, or multiservice) and populations served. While most SA and multiservice organizations address DV internally, most DV organizations use external collaborations; all offer services to DV perpetrators at similar rates. Findings underscore the importance of including multiple, nuanced measures of organizational activities related to co-occurring DV and SA in future research.

Lessons in Program Evaluation: The ACTV Batterer Program Study and Its Claims.

The "Evaluation of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) curriculum for domestic violence offenders" illustrates the methodological issues associated with interpreting program evaluations and applying them to policy. Despite the "preliminary" evidence, the authors promote ACTV as more effective in terms of recidivism compared with DU/CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) programming. A more critical consideration of the research, however, exposes further limitations that counter the initial speculations and interpretations of the study outcome. Consequently, the effectiveness of ACTV over the DU/CBT option remains in question and raises the need for a broader discourse on program effectiveness.

Technical Considerations for Red Marking Ink Use When Interpreting Specimen Radiographs: Case Report.

Artifacts are universal across all imaging modalities, varying in their conspicuity and significance. In this report three patients with pathology-proven breast cancer who had densities masquerading as microcalcifications at the resection margins of the lumpectomy specimens, but had negative microscopic margins, will be discussed. It was determined that these pseudocalcifications were the result of ink precipitates from a commonly utilized tissue marking dye. This artifact was further evaluated and reproduced by utilizing a boneless chicken breast as a phantom. © RSNA, 2016.

Comments on Stuart et al.'s "Genetic associations with intimate partner violence in a sample of hazardous drinking men in batterer intervention programs".

Stuart et al. correlate genetic characteristics of men in batterer intervention programs with their level of intimate partner violence (IPV). In this commentary, I address the generality of the results in light of the characteristics of the participants, speculate about possible effects of current and future genetic and biological research on potential consumers of such research, and place this research in the context on an ongoing criticism of batterer intervention programs by various constituents.

Barriers to addressing substance abuse in domestic violence court.

Substance abuse commonly co-occurs with intimate partner violence among both perpetrators and survivors. Specialized courts that focus on intimate partner violence provide a unique opportunity to address both problems simultaneously, but research has yet to identify whether this happens. In this qualitative study of a domestic violence court in a large midwestern metropolitan area, key informants were interviewed to understand how the Court treats substance abuse. Results indicate that substance abuse typically is not identified among perpetrators or survivors going through the Court unless it is mentioned in a police report. Barriers to such identification are the organization of the Court, bounded definition of actors' roles in the Court, limited resources, and negative attitudes towards survivors. These results suggest that specialized courts that attend to only one problem may overlook the possibility of addressing issues that commonly co-occur.

University of Illinois at Chicago's interdisciplinary center for research on violence: changing systems to prevent violence in Chicago and beyond.

This article describes an interdisciplinary center at the University of Illinois at Chicago focused on collaborative research on violence. Our center is unique in its emphasis on developing infrastructure and distinctive processes for overcoming obstacles to interdisciplinary research; the involvement of outside policy makers, advocates, and service providers in jointly discussing and developing research proposals; the breadth of commitments from leading violence researchers and administrators across five colleges; and the innovativeness of proposed research projects that support interdisciplinary activity and show promise for funding. The center has developed an infrastructure to address violence-related issues in both research and teaching. This article discusses the challenges of implementation and boundary spanning in a university context and makes recommendations for sustainability.

Substance abuse by men in partner abuse intervention programs: current issues and promising trends.

This article discusses key studies linking intervention for co-occurring substance abuse and partner abuse. Findings are grouped into three areas: (a) the effect of addictions treatment on partner violence; (b) application of transtheoretical, motivational, and culturally focused approaches to improve engagement and prevent attrition; and (c) assessment-based matching of services. Finally, the relative value of serial, coordinated, and integrated substance abuse programs and partner abuse intervention programs are considered. We reached three primary conclusions: (a) Addiction treatment alone reduces the risk for future domestic violence in a subset of men who batter, (b) screening and assessment for substance abuse by all men in partner abuse intervention programs is a standard of practice but needs to extend beyond "intake" and occur periodically, and (c) coordinated and integrated substance abuse and domestic violence programs probably offer more safety than traditional serial substance abuse treatment followed by partner abuse intervention.

Effects of coordinated services for drug-abusing women who are victims of intimate partner violence.

This article summarizes outcomes from a demonstration project on collaboration between substance abuse and domestic violence agencies. Researchers recruited women seeking services for substance abuse or intimate partner violence at 1 of 6 participating agencies. Admitted women were both victims of domestic violence and abusing alcohol or drugs. Following an initial screening, participants were interviewed at program entry (n = 255) and again 4 to 6 months later (n = 128, 50%). Key outcomes were the number of days substances were used in the past 30 days, women's perceptions of harm from battering, and domestic violence self-efficacy. Results suggest participants used substances less frequently and experienced themselves as more efficacious following services, but they were also more fearful of the consequences of domestic violence. Repeated-measures MANOVA found that substance abuse days and domestic violence self-efficacy significantly contributed to the multivariate function. Implications for services for women with co-occurring substance abuse and domestic violence victimization are discussed.

Urban adolescent mothers exposed to community, family, and partner violence: is cumulative violence exposure a barrier to school performance and participation?

Using a risk and resilience perspective, the authors assessed urban adolescent mothers' exposure to community, family, and partner violence and analyzed the relationships between cumulative violence exposure and multiple school outcomes, within the context of welfare reforms. Positive attitude toward school and social support were examined as moderators of violence exposure on school outcomes. The authors pilot tested the questionnaire with 10 participants, then surveyed 120 adolescent mothers regarding their violence exposure, school performance and participation, positive attitude toward school, and social support. Results indicate very high rates of lifetime exposure to violence; intercorrelations and regression analyses indicate that as violence exposure increases, school outcomes tend to worsen, with positive attitude toward school found to be a significant moderator of the effects of exposure to community violence on behavior problems in school. Implications for researchers, practitioners, school policies and programs, and welfare policies and programs conclude the article.

Effectiveness of hotline, advocacy, counseling, and shelter services for victims of domestic violence: a statewide evaluation.

The authors report the results of an evaluation of services provided by 54 Illinois domestic violence agencies. In collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago evaluation team, domestic violence advocates identified services to be evaluated, specified desired outcomes of those services, and participated in developing measures of those outcomes in both English and Spanish. With in the limitations of the study, outcomes were positive in all four program areas: hotline, counseling, advocacy, and shelter. The authors then discuss implications for evaluation of domestic violence programs that maintain victim safety as a guiding principle.

Standards for Batterer Intervention Programs: In Whose Interest?

The authors review batterer program regulation in the United States, describe variations and commonalities between regulatory standards, and examine arguments about standards. As a case illustration of batterer program regulation, the authors describe the Illinois Protocol for Domestic Abuse batterer programs and issues emerging during its implementation. The authors conclude that the dual criteria of accountability and victim safety resolve many inherent conflicts in seemingly competing perspectives.