Informal Social Control of Partner Violence in Drug Users

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Proposed is a five-year Mentored Scientist Career Development Award (K01) to identify the neighborhood-level factors associated with the "informal social control" of intimate partner violence (i.e., social support of victims and social sanctions of perpetrators by community members or neighbors) and how this action differs when the victim is a drug user. Building on the applicant's prior research on drug-using women's experiences of intimate partner violence and the impact of neighborhood-level factors and individual-level attitudes on intimate partner violence, the proposed research focuses on drug-using women, who experience disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence. The goal of the career award is to develop advanced skills enabling the applicant to answer the question: "what individual- and neighborhood-level factors influence a community member to 'do something' to prevent intimate partner violence against a drug using woman?" The K01 will support structured training, course work, one-on-one tutorials, intensive mentored relationships and empirical research. The proposed training goals are: 1) to develop expertise in social ecological and stigma theories; 2) to acquire advanced, multi-level analysis skills; 3) to learn a new qualitative research methodology, concept mapping; and 4) to gain in-depth training in research ethics with vulnerable populations and in community settings. Each training goal is advanced through the conduct of two interrelated studies. In the first study, using data from a random digit-dial survey of 5000 New York City residents and census data, hierarchical linear modeling will be used to assess a multi-level model of self-reported informal social control of intimate partner violence against drug-using women. Predictors include neighborhood-level structural factors indicative of social disorganization (e.g., residential mobility), social capital (e.g., social cohesion), attitudinal norms and individual attitudes towards intimate partner violence. In the second study, concept mapping will be used to explore what neighborhood residents believe to be important to the informal social control of intimate partner violence and how drug use affects this process. Results of the proposed studies will identify potential points and methods of intervention to enhance informal responses to intimate partner violence against drug-using women, reducing the morbidity associated with partner violence, such as increased HIV risk, traumatic stress disorders and relapse to substance abuse.