- It was an easy choice
Skjærvø wanted to be a scientist for a long time, and after working several years in the field of substance abuse, she joined SERAF.
She has a master's degree in cognitive neuropsychology from the University of Oslo.
She worked previously at a social services office in Oslo, in a project to combat homelessness, with close monitoring of people with substance use and psychiatric problems.
- When an opportunity opened to take a doctorate within the field of substance use, it was an easy choice, says the PhD student.
Wants more knowledge about patient care
At SERAF she is one of three Phd-students working with the NorCOMT study. NorCOMT stands for Norwegian cohort of patients in Opioid Maintenance Treatment (OMT) and other drug treatments.
The project follows patients starting inpatient treatment and OMT throughout Norway.The goal is to learn more about the progress of patients in treatment.
Participants have been interviewed about physical and mental health, criminal behavior and criminal victimization, quality of life, eating habits, treatment experience, social networking and much more.
Altogether over 500 patients joined in the study.
Crime and substance use
- My research is on which factors are related to committed crime, among substance users, but also on factors related to being a victim of crime, she says.
- Most of the substance use treatment patients who have committed crime have been a victim of crime themselves in the same period, and I think it's interesting to look at this overlap.
According to Skjærvø, both committed crime and criminal victimization are higher among drug users than in the general population. The social, emotional and economic costs and consequences of this are high for all involved, and also for the society in general.
- By learning more about who may be at risk to carry out criminal activity or being a victim of crime, we can try to tailor measures to reduce the extent of both, explains Skjærvø.
These kinds of measures could for instance be relevant as an addition to other aspects of substance use treatments.
International experience
Last fall Skjærvø attended the ISAM conference for the first time to present her research, in Dundee, Scotland.
In addition to the experience of presenting at an international conference for the first time, she became inspired after meeting scientists who are doing research on similar topics.
This gave her the confirmation that her own work and research topics are important.
Utilize existing knowledge
She believes that to be a good researcher you need the ability to see things in context.
- I think that to be a great scientist you should be persistent, interested, willing to learn and open to new possibilities, she said.
Skjærvø believes it is important to be able to define hypotheses and then find the right methods to test these hypotheses.
- I think it is important to plan and talk to other researchers, and to utilize the knowledge and experiences that already exists around you, explains the PhD student.
- Then the result is guaranteed to be better.