Abstract
The overlap of substance abuse and domestic violence has been a neglected area of nursing research and practice. Except for the research programs of Carol Boyd, Ruth Harris, and Dorothy Henderson (e.g., Henderson and Boyd, 1997), the complex interrelationships of these phenomena and their resultant effects on women's health are all but absent from nursing literature. This volume of Journal of Addictions Nursing addresses this gap. Nursing is not alone in its neglect of these intersecting issues. Although violence and substances are forever closely intertwined in the public's eye, very little is really known about what exactly are the causal mechanisms between the two and what are the best interventions to address both serious health, criminal justice, and social problems. Violence and substance abuse intersect in many complex ways, are both important health problems by themselves, and closely related to many other health problems. They are, thus, both appropriate areas for nursing scholarship and nursing interventions at all three levels of prevention.