[Addressing intimate partner violence in substance-abuse treatment programmes: a challenge for the future]

There is a close relationship between substance abuse (alcohol and other drugs) and intimate partner violence. Studies carried out with male offenders and with addicted patients show a high comorbidity rate between these two phenomena. However, few batterer intervention programmes have been implemented to date in the field of drug addiction. This paper proposes, first, the need to detect cases of intimate partner violence that are camouflaged beneath a drug problem. Thus, it is important to determine the prevalence rate of intimate partner aggressors among users of drug-addiction treatment programmes, as well as identifying the specific characteristics of these patients. Second, once aggressors are identified, it would be possible to develop specific programmes for the simultaneous treatment of the two problems (addiction and intimate partner violence). Some studies have already been carried with joint treatments for addiction and intimate partner violence. The results obtained are encouraging, and show that intervention programs with addictions can be a useful framework for applying also, where necessary, specific treatments for those addicted patients with an associated problem of intimate partner violence. Finally, implications for clinical practice and future research in this field are discussed.