Addressing intimate partner violence among substance misusers: advancing aetiologies and treatment approaches

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current/ex partner/spouse. It is a global problem, impacting the physical & mental health of victims, perpetrators & their children alike. In the UK, the annual cost of IPV is estimated at £36.7 billion. 1 in 6 males in substance misuse treatment have perpetrated IPV & 1 in 4 females in treatment are victims of IPV, resulting in higher involvement with criminal justice, child protection & mental health services. Few interventions address IPV among this group & those that have been developed are from the US. There is great division over the importance and appropriateness of individual, situational, cultural & societal factors in explaining IPV. Involving partners from the UK, US, Australia & China enables us to reflect and compare legal, policy & treatment approaches. The contrasting role of patriarchy & control in western & developing countries & among ethnic minorities within these countries will also be compared. Understanding the cultural-constructs of IPV is necessary to develop culturally-sensitive responses. International collaboration allows knowledge innovation and its scaling up through a series of 6 connected multi-stakeholder seminars. The seminar series will advance our cross-cultural, multidisciplinary understanding about the causes of IPV among substance misusers. It will also enhance our knowledge about effective policy & treatment approaches. Several principal competing theories exist as to why certain people are more likely to be perpetrators or victims of IPV on which current treatment approaches are based. In order to advance our understanding of best practice, the seminar series will bring together leading academics, early career researchers (ECRs), PhD students, practitioners, policy makers, educators and other key stakeholders to debate these issues from different perspectives & experiences with a view to learning from each other & informing policy, practice, education & training. The seminars will explore the relationship between IPV & substance misuse, the consequences & causes of IPV, & sociological considerations of IPV & substance misuse, including gender & culture. How best to address IPV among substance misusers will be debated by discussing risk & assessment criteria, treatment approaches, novel technologies (including web based, phone applications & gaming technologies) & public policy. ECRs & PhD students will be encouraged & supported to present their work & collaborate on dissemination & research proposal development. 6 seminars will be held, 3 in the UK & 3 internationally (US, Australia, China). There will be 30 core participants (academics, ECRs & PhD students)-15 from 4 UK Universities (Greenwich, Kings College London, Nottingham, Glasgow Caledonian) and 15 from 3 international Universities (Rochester Institute of Technology(US), Melbourne(Australia) & Hong Kong(China)). The core group of 15 from the UK will attend all UK seminars in person & each CI will attend one international seminar. Similarly, each international CI will attend one UK seminar. Janet video conferencing services will be used to ensure that all 6 seminars are interactive regardless of whether they are attended in person or through the use of video conferencing by the core participant group (15 UK & 15 international participants) to provide continuity, cross-cultural knowledge exchange and foster the development of research proposals. An additional 15 participants from each local area will participate in each seminar, drawn from other Universities, practitioners, policy makers, educators & other stakeholders. In total at least 30 participants will attend each seminar in person or through the use of video conferencing. Seminars will be streamed live & downloadable free-of-charge via the seminar series' website to facilitate participation in all seminars. 3 collaborative research proposals & 2 manuscripts will be produced.