Martha Canfield, Polly Radcliffe, Ana Flavia Pires Lucas D’Oliveira and Gail Gilchrist
The purpose of this paper is to examine frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) severity perpetrated by heterosexual men receiving treatment for substance use…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) severity perpetrated by heterosexual men receiving treatment for substance use towards a current partner in the past 12 months.
Design/methodology/approach
A secondary analysis of a self-reported questionnaire (n=162) completed by men receiving treatment for substance use in England and Brazil was conducted. Types of IPV perpetration (emotional, physical and/or sexual IPV) and frequency of occurrence were assessed. A five level ordinal variable for IPV perpetration severity was created: no IPV, minor; moderate, low severe and high severe. Psychological and cultural correlates of perpetration severity were explored using ordinal logistic regression.
Findings
Approximately four in ten men reported perpetrating IPV towards their partner in the past 12 months, one in ten reported perpetrating severe IPV (including hitting with something, kicking or beating, choking or burning, threatening with/using a weapon, sexual IPV and frequent emotional IPV) during this period. A number of correlates of perpetration severity were identified: experiencing childhood physical abuse, witnessing IPV in childhood, perpetrating IPV in previous relationships, committing violence towards another man, controlling behaviours, technology-facilitated abuse, depressive symptoms, having a substance using partner, receiving treatment for illicit drug use, hazardous drinking and poly-drug use.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the small sample size, small to large positive associations were observed between reporting IPV perpetration and several factors. These factors could be targeted to improve identification and assessment of IPV among men receiving treatment for substance use.
Originality/value
A strength of this study methodology is the use of a specific 12 months time frame for the perpetration of IPV towards current partner. The categorisation of levels of IPV perpetration based on types and frequency of violence occurrence was an additional valuable contribution of this study.
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Polly Radcliffe, Martha Canfield, Maggie Boreham, Sally Marlow and Gail Gilchrist
It proved difficult to recruit sufficient mothers to a prospective cohort study designed to explore the factors and characteristics of mothers whose children are the subject of…
Abstract
Purpose
It proved difficult to recruit sufficient mothers to a prospective cohort study designed to explore the factors and characteristics of mothers whose children are the subject of the public care system as a result of their drinking, retaining or losing care of their children. In conducting interviews instead with social workers in six local authorities, the repurposed study aimed to explore their views of the barriers and facilitators to involving this “hard to reach” population of mothers in research at the beginning of care proceedings.
Design/methodology/approach
For this study, 36 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with child and family social workers and social work managers located in six English local authorities. Transcripts were analysed using Nvivo and coded thematically.
Findings
Workforce issues and social work workload, court timescales and the additional burden that participating in research at a time of enormous stress for mothers were described as barriers to recruitment. Social workers suggested that the criteria for including participants could be widened to include mothers in pre-proceedings and that recruitment could take place via substance use services with whom mothers do not have an antagonistic relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The perspective of social work practitioners and not mothers themselves on barriers to engagement in research is a limitation of the study. Innovative and flexible research design is needed to include the participation of mothers whose alcohol use has led to court proceedings in research.
Originality/value
Few studies have investigated the barriers and facilitators to engaging mothers in research at the point that care proceedings have been issued. The re-purposed study highlighted the particular stresses on mothers and social workers and made recommendations for alternative strategies for recruiting these mothers and representing their experience in research.
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Interviews with pregnant substance misusing women and women who had given birth in the previous two years suggest that they are engaged in a process of managing spoiled identities…
Abstract
Interviews with pregnant substance misusing women and women who had given birth in the previous two years suggest that they are engaged in a process of managing spoiled identities in order to present themselves as committed and motivated mothers. The work they engage in involves presenting themselves as regulated consumers by keeping to substitute prescribing regimes, keeping appointments with a multitude of agencies and aligning themselves with a normalised discourse of motherhood. Interview accounts emphasise the importance of caring networks in personal lives and in the service with which they are engaging.
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Miriam Boeri, Megan Gardner, Erin Gerken, Melissa Ross and Jack Wheeler
The purpose of this paper is to understand how people with problematic drug use access positive social capital. Social capital is defined as relations that provide valuable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand how people with problematic drug use access positive social capital. Social capital is defined as relations that provide valuable resources to individuals through participation in social networks. People with low-socioeconomic status remain at a disadvantage for acquiring positive social capital, a component of recovery capital. The concept of social recovery emphasizes the relational processes of recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth life history data were collected from 29 individuals who used heroin, cocaine, crack, or methamphetamine for at least five years, have less than a high-school education, and unstable employment and housing. Qualitative data were coded for social networks accessed throughout the life course, distinguished by bonding, bridging, and linking social capital.
Findings
Social networks included drug treatment programs; non-drug-using family and friends; religious/spiritual groups; workplace networks; and social clubs/activities. Bonding and/or bridging social capital were acquired through treatment, family and friends, religious/spiritual groups, workplaces, and social clubs. Linking social capital was not acquired through any social network available, and many barriers to accessing mainstream social networks were found.
Research limitations/implications
This is a small study conducted in the USA.
Practical implications
Social recovery is proposed as an analytical tool as well as for developing prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies.
Social implications
A greater focus on social recovery is needed to achieve sustained recovery for individuals lacking access to, and engagement in mainstream social networks.
Originality/value
This paper further develops a new conceptual framework to use in recovery research and practice.
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The purpose of this paper is to critically regard the concept of recovery from the perspective of substance misusing offenders. It intended to understand how these individuals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically regard the concept of recovery from the perspective of substance misusing offenders. It intended to understand how these individuals came to define recovery by asking “what does recovery mean to you?”
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 35 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with individuals with a history of heroin and crack cocaine use as well as convictions for a range of offences. Interviews took place in both prison and community settings, reflecting a spectrum of experience.
Findings
Whilst the constellation of recovery varied, it was at times made up of the same “stars” – and some re-occurring themes emerged; recovery was transient, fragile and unpredictable, it was ongoing, lacking a definitive end, it was more than abstinence and often involved a total psychological overhaul, recovery was about reintegrating with society and feeling “normal”.
Practical implications
Practitioners and services need to value the individual interpretations of recovery rather than being prescriptive around what it “should” look like. The components of recovery that were raised by participants permit specific recommendations for practice to be made.
Originality/value
This study sought the perspectives of those actually affected by and experiencing drug treatment in the Criminal Justice System. It allowed participants to tell their story without preconceived ideas or hypotheses, putting their voice at the centre of the stage. The study uses feedback from the ground to make informed recommendations for practice.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe a high-profile social enterprise in Blackpool, England, called Jobs, Friends and Houses (JFH) that has created a visible social identity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a high-profile social enterprise in Blackpool, England, called Jobs, Friends and Houses (JFH) that has created a visible social identity of recovery and meaningful activity, to assess how stigma is challenged through active and visible community engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study based on in-depth individual interview and focus group, supplemented by participant in-depth interviews.
Findings
The paper describes one particular incident in which a worker at JFH intervened in a violent attack, possibly saving a woman’s life. The paper describes the experiences of internalised stigma and external exclusion being challenged by the development of a positive social identity and a pro-social community role that has high visibility. Data are presented showing the strong social identity experienced by participants and recognised by external stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
This is a pilot study which uses an opportunistic design and much stronger longitudinal designs will be needed to address the issues raised in the paper.
Social implications
The paper argues that the visibility of the pro-social identity has been central to challenging stereotypes and discriminating attitudes and suggests that a social identity approach may be central to generating and sustaining a recovery community and to confronting and reversing long-held stigmatised attitudes.
Originality/value
The paper is important as it discusses the impact of recovery through engagement in meaningful activities that challenge stigma and exclusion through work. The paper is framed in terms of a social identity model of recovery.