Disability and Abuse
in Relation to Substance Abuse:
A Descriptive Analysis
Michael Wolf-Branigi n
ABSTRACT. This analysis reviewed five years of a state's substance
abuse treatment admissions and discharges in order to identify specific pat-
terns among persons who had a disability. Using a series of group compar-
isons, Chi-squares, and logistic regressions, specific patterns of violence
and abuse to this population were identified. Results indicate that persons
who had a disability and abused substances were more likely to be victim-
ized by physical abuse and domestic violence when compared with their
peers without a disability. A person with a disability had about one-half to
one-third the odds of receiving long-term residential, short-term residential
and intensive outpatient care when compared with persons without a dis-
ability. doi:10.1300/J198v06n03_04 [Article copies available for a fee from
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KEYWORDS. Disability, substance abuse, complex systems, domestic
violence, sexual abuse
Continued efforts are needed to develop and implement social work in-
terventions that address the complex interactions of disability, substance
Michael Wolf-Branigin, PhD, is affiliated with the Department of Social Work,
George Mason University, MS 1F7, 3330 Washington Boulevard, Suite 150, Arlington,
VA 22201 (E-mail: mwolfbra@gmu.edu).
Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, Vol. 6(3) 2007
Available online at http://jswdr.haworthpress.com
© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J198v06n03_04 65