The co-occurrence of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and child maltreatment: Can Family Drug and Alcohol Courts play a part?
Date
2022
Authors
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Publisher
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Abstract
This review article focuses on the inter-relationship between substance
misuse, domestic abuse, and child maltreatment, especially in the context
of care (child protection) proceedings. It reviews what is known about the
prevalence and impact of co-occurring domestic abuse and substance misuse
on adult and child victims, and the response of criminal and family law and
intervention programmes in supporting families to address these problems
holistically. Special attention is paid to the role of Family Drug and Alcohol
Courts (FDACs), a radical problem-solving approach to care proceedings,
which provide integrated interventions to the range of co-occurring problems
that trigger the proceedings. Despite clear evidence of the greater harm to
children when exposed to these two parental difficulties, the review has found
a lack of systematic information on the prevalence of co-occurrence and a
lack of effective integrated interventions, including within care proceedings.
It argues that the FDAC approach is well suited to respond to co-occurring
substance misuse and domestic abuse in care proceedings and it has the
potential to break down silos across sectors. However, in the absence of
empirical evidence, this premise would need testing. A particular focus of
the review has been on efforts to overcome silos in practice, law and policy.
Promising initiatives are described in criminal and family law to improve the
response to domestic abuse that build on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the
first dedicated domestic abuse legislation in England and Wales. All of them
are based on problem-solving approaches used in other jurisdictions. Despite
these initiatives, the review concludes that there remain significant barriers to
effectively align law, policy and practice to ensure that domestic abuse strategy
recognizes and responds to the overlaps with substance misuse.
Description
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Keywords
review, child protection, United Kingdom, International Resources, co-occurrence, substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, family court
Citation
Harwin, J., & Barlow, C. (2022). The co-occurrence of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and child maltreatment: Can Family Drug and Alcohol Courts play a part?. Frontiers in Psychiatry.