Substance abuse and domestic violence. Stories of practitioners that address the co-occurrence among battered women

In the literature on domestic violence, it is indicated that substance abuse has been present around the domestic violence episode. We know that substance abuse does not cause violence, although it is closely associated with the incident. Much of what has been written focuses on the batterer and substance abuse. Little information is available about battered women. Of the literatures that exists, there is some discussion about how battered women may medicate themselves due to the violence they experience. Other literature describes that neither domestic violence nor substance abuse programs are prepared to address the needs of women who experience the co-occurrence of violence and substance abuse. This article will describe how two different service programs were developed to address the needs of battered women who use. The article will describe a philosophy for this work, how assessments are conducted, how women were identified for the program, and how services were designed.