Domestic Abuse Incidents Research Articles

“Can I Have a Look?”: The Discursive Management of Victims’ Personal Space During Police First Response Call-Outs to Domestic Abuse Incidents

The complexities of domestic abuse as both a lived experience and a crime generate unique communicative challenges at the scene of emergency police call-outs. Space is a prominent and complex feature of these ecounters, entailing a juxtaposition of the institutional and the private, whereby frontline officers seek evidence of abuse from victims in the same space in which the abuse occurred. This paper explores how speakers manage one evidentially salient aspect of these encounters: officers’ advancement into victim’s immediate personal space to inspect and photograph their injuries. As compared with the attention dedicated to preserving vulnerable victims’ personal ‘bubble’ of space in formal investigative interviews, first response guidelines allow participants more leeway to adapt their behaviour according to the unpredictable demands of each situation. I present two case studies here which form part of a wider study of first response call-outs to domestic abuse incidents reported to a UK police force. The audio data have been extracted from police body-worn video footage and transcribed, with visual information represented intralinearly. Through conversation analysis, I examine the microinteractional means by which personal space is made relevant and consequential to the unfolding talk, with a focus on how ownership rights and control over the space are (re)constructed discursively. Analysis demonstrates that entering victims’ personal space can be managed in ways that either reinforce their disempowered position or afford them some control. The findings have implications in relation to victims’ potential vulnerability, police-victim relations and the nature of the evidence produced.

Child traumatic physical abuse rates and comparisons during the COVID-19 pandemic: Retrospective paediatric single institution review in Texas.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered human behaviour and socialisation and may have created an environment that could lead to increased incidence of domestic abuse and non-accidental trauma, or child physical abuse (CPA). Initial reports about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rates of CPA have been mixed. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of COVID-19 on rates of CPA in a large metropolitan paediatric hospital and level I paediatric trauma centre. We identified and compared all CPA admissions under 18 years from May 2019 to February 2020 and considered that to be the pre-COVID time frame. The ensuing 12-month period of March 2020 to February 2021 was considered to be the intra-COVID time frame. There were 49 (0.32%) unique CPA patients pre-COVID and 83 (0.85%) unique CPA patients intra-COVID (P < 0.001) with lower total admissions for any reason during the intra-COVID time frame. Monthly CPA cases were increased (P < 0.03) during the intra-COVID time period (mean 6.9, 95% confidence interval: 5.8-12.7) compared to the pre-COVID time period (mean 4.9, 95% confidence interval: 3.3-8.2). During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were decreased overall hospital admissions in the period of mandated shutdowns and isolation. However, we saw an increased rate of CPA admissions compared to the time period prior to the pandemic. Knowledge of such data, trends and circumstances will help keep health-care providers alert and vigilant in identifying children at risk for maltreatment, and may impact child abuse protocols and guidelines.

Understanding Domestic Abuse Perpetrators: using unsupervised machine learning to analyse a longitudinal dataset of domestic abuse incidents from Essex Police. A Home-Office funded project. 2022

Understanding Domestic Abuse Perpetrators: using unsupervised machine learning to analyse a longitudinal dataset of domestic abuse incidents from Essex Police. A Home-Office funded project. 2022

The rise and fall of emotional intelligence in police risk assessments of domestic abuse

The policing of domestic abuse is a significant and problematic element of the frontline officer’s everyday business. Finding ways through which we can improve officers’ interactions with female victims has been none more pressing than in the post covid period, as the increase in domestic abuse continues to rise. This paper is based upon research of frontline officers as leaders in the practice of policing domestic abuse across four police areas and their perspective of emotional intelligence in risk assessing domestic incidents. What it revealed is two-fold; firstly, the considerable decline in its use with those officers who have attended multiple incidents of domestic abuse and how this decline has a negative impact on a victim’s long-term protection. Secondly, the motivation to find ways in which emotional intelligence can be reinvigorated and developed as a frontline leadership skill.

Analysis of the Influencing Factors of Elderly being Abused and Remaining Silent in China

Under the Confucian culture of “family ugliness must not be exposed”, the elderly in China often choose to be aggrieved/remain silent when facing domestic abuse. Based on the data of the fourth sample survey of urban and rural elderly living conditions in China in 2015 (N=19,940), this study used the Logit model to analyze the influencing factors of the risk of family abuse and the choice of remaining silent of the elderly. The results showed that the annual incidence of domestic abuse among the elderly in China was 5.36%, and the proportion of those who chose to remain silent was 35.77%. The more sons, the higher the risk of domestic abuse in the elderly and whether the elderly choose to remain silent, and the more daughters, the higher the risk of domestic abuse in the elderly, but whether they remain silent is not significant. Overall, it shows that “raising children does not prevent old age”, and to be precise, it cannot prevent the occurrence of elderly abuse.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 England and Wales: implications for nurses.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the globe there was a parallel increase in the incidence of domestic abuse (DA). This has been ascribed to the restrictions in movement and growing tensions during lockdown periods. The Domestic Abuse Act covering England and Wales was about to be passed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, but progress halted as attention focused on managing infection control and treatment nationally. The unfolding DA 'shadow pandemic' led to pressure groups lobbying for specific changes to the Act which, in its revised form, became law in April 2021. This article sets out the changes in definition, statutory response and prevention of DA and relates these to nursing practice. Health education and promotion theory is considered and linked to nursing practice with those who are both victims/survivors and perpetrators of DA.

Domestic abuse: the ‘shadow pandemic’

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents of domestic abuse have increased substantially around the world. The lockdown measures which were adopted by many jurisdictions, although necessary to limit the spread of the virus, nevertheless resulted in those living in abusive relationships finding themselves to be even more isolated. Indeed, UN Women has termed violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic as the ‘shadow pandemic’. This article discusses the increased levels of domestic abuse globally, proceeds to examine the rise in instances of domestic abuse on the island of Ireland, and then analyses the measures adopted in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in response. It is argued that, although meritorious steps were taken in both jurisdictions, essentially the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing difficulties with the responses of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to this issue.

Predicting Domestic Abuse (Fairly) and Police Risk Assessment.

Domestic abuse victim risk assessment is crucial for providing victims with the correct level of support. However, it has been shown that the approach currently taken by most UK police forces, the Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Honour Based Violence (DASH) risk assessment, is not identifying the most vulnerable victims. Instead, we tested several machine learning algorithms and propose a predictive model, using logistic regression with elastic net as the best performing, that incorporates information readily available in police databases, and census-area-level statistics. We used data from a large UK police force including 350,000 domestic abuse incidents. Our models made significant improvement upon the predictive capacity of DASH, both for intimate partner violence (IPV; AUC = .748) and other forms of domestic abuse (non-IPV; AUC = .763). The most influential variables in the model were of the categories criminal history and domestic abuse history, particularly time since the last incident. We show that the DASH questions contributed almost nothing to the predictive performance. We also provide an overview of model fairness performance for ethnic and socioeconomic subgroups of the data sample. Although there were disparities between ethnic and demographic subgroups, everyone benefited from the increased accuracy of model-based predictions when compared with officer risk predictions.

On Intimate Reaches of US Empire: Neoliberal Imperialism and Domestic Abuse in Metro Manila

Research shows that political economy—the structural distribution of a society’s economic resources as shaped by power inequalities—is linked to the incidence of domestic abuse as well as survivors’ success in escaping abusive relationships. Yet studies often overlook the extent to which domestic abuse in the global South is embedded in neocolonial structural violence. Drawing on interviews and surveys with urban poor women in Metro Manila, I explore how structural adjustment and state violence from the 1980s to the 2000s have inextricably shaped experiences of domestic abuse. Popular discourse and some gender scholars portray economic globalization as an empowering, even liberatory force for poor women in the global South. Instead, I trace how a political economy marked by what I call “neoliberal imperialism” has fueled domestic violence, not by boosting the upward economic mobility of urban poor Filipinas but by worsening their gendered precarity. I complicate feminist scholarship that has framed increased abuse as a male backlash against heightened female mobility. Gendered material inequalities, austerity, and militarization have serially exposed women and girls to cycles of violence. These facets of a neocolonial political economy collude to reinforce low-income Filipinas’ primary responsibility for reproductive labor, trapping them in abusive relationships despite access to cash earnings. I argue that imperialist extraction not only exacerbates domestic abuse but that interpersonal gendered violence is a tool for harnessing Filipina reproductive labor to reproduce empire. I critique carceral feminist responses to abuse in a neocolonial context, considering how urban poor Filipinas’ oppositional consciousnesses gesture toward structural alternatives.

Domestic Trauma: Textile Responses to Confinement, Coercion and Control

One result of the public health quarantine measures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has been an increase in the incidence of domestic abuse against women. This practice-based interdisciplinary research paper considers the domestic trauma resulting from confinement, coercion and control within the home and textile responses to it. It aims to highlight these domestic concerns, challenge attitudes about coercive control and provoke discussion. Contemporary research into domestic abuse is combined with examples of domestic coercion and control described in literature and textile. Many women, both in life and literature, have used textiles as an alternative form of discourse to describe coercion and control in the home. As first-wave feminist Olive Schreiner shrewdly noted about women traumatized by domesticity “What has she but her needle?”. Textiles such as Elizabeth Parker’s sampler recording her domestic abuse are discussed, as well as contemporary responses by survivors and artists. As well as recording coercive control, textiles can also be used as an alternative form of discourse in the healing process. The paper ends on an encouraging note discussing textile initiatives that assist victims of domestic trauma.

Police culture and gender: an evaluation of police officers' practices and responses to domestic abuse

This research reviews police officers' practices and responses to domestic abuse, which since the mid-1980s has been a central topic of debate amongst scholars, campaigners and policymakers. The last four decades have seen a growing body of research and government inquiries that focus specifically on officers' procedures and perception of gender-based crimes, such as domestic abuse. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered, or at least contested, including the extent to which police officers can influence how domestic abuse incidents are reported and recorded. In this context, studies in the field have revealed that many different factors can impact officers' behaviours, including lack of knowledge of the dynamics of the crime, misogynistic views, cultural beliefs and gender stereotypes, which are deep-rooted in social norms. These attitudes and traditional gender views are extremely concerning when they are held by some male officers, as males are over-represented in the police force and they play a pivotal role in the fight against domestic abuse.

The Universal Crisis of Covid and its Lasting Impact on Children

While medical literature suggests that children are minimally susceptible to Corona virus disease (COVID-19) in 2019, the psychosocial impact of this pandemic is the most severe. Quarantine in homes and establishments can be placed. A larger psychological stress than the actual pain caused by the infection. Campus shutdown, lack of leisure opportunities,Dietary aberration and sleeping habits are likely to interrupt children’s normal lifestyle and may potentially encourage monotonous, distressing, impatient, distracting, and complex neuropsychiatric manifestations. Incidence of domestic abuse, child assault, and adulterated web material is on the rise. Children of single parents and frontline staff have particular challenges. Children from vulnerable populations are especially prone to infection and may suffer from prolonged infection. The implications of this pandemic, such as forced slavery, forced abuse, child marriage, sexual exploitation and death, etc. Owners, paediatricians, clinicians, social workers, hospital officials, government and non-governmental organisations have vital roles to play in alleviating the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on children and teenagers. To provide basic services, social security, medical treatment and eliminate educational inequities among children. Priorities are at the top of the various strata of society.

A genealogy of hostility: parental alienation in England and Wales

ABSTRACTThis article explores the emergence and development of parental alienation (PA) in England and Wales. It considers the background into which PA first appeared in private law proceedings concerning children in England and Wales, and examines how it progressed in the case law through the changing political and discursive context of private family law from 2000 to the end of March 2019. A clear pattern emerged of, initially, parental alienation syndrome and subsequently PA being raised in family proceedings and in political and popular arenas in response to concerns about and measures to address domestic abuse. The case law revealed a high incidence of domestic abuse perpetrated by parents (principally fathers) who were claiming that the resident parents (principally mothers) had alienated the children against them, which raises questions about the purpose of PA. More recently, a PA ‘industry’ appears to have amassed comprising experts, therapists and lawyers, advocating transfers of children’s care from ‘alienating’ mothers to non-resident fathers, as well as PA therapy for children and parents. While PA has had a chequered history and is not without its critics, it has become part of the discursive repertoire of current family law, with increasingly harsh consequences for women and children.

The Increasing Incidence of Domestic Abuse of the Elderly

The Increasing Incidence of Domestic Abuse of the Elderly

Socio-economic variables’ predictive abilities of domestic abuse incidence among farmers in Akwa Ibom State

This study assessed if selected socio-economic variables of farmers in agricultural blocks of Akwa Ibom State can predict domestic abuse incidence. It described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and assessed the incidence of domestic abuse in the study area in the last one year. The study also identified farmers’ socio-economic characteristics that predict domestic abuse incidence in the study area. 120 respondents were selected from the 40 agricultural blocks in the state through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire and interview schedule and analyzed using, percentages, frequency count, incidence index and binary logistic regression. Incidence index was used to estimate the incidence of domestic abuse in the study area while the binary logistic regression was used to identify which socio-economic predicted domestic abuse incidence among the respondents. Findings revealed high incidence of physical forms of abuse such as beating (0.91), wife battering (0.88), injuring (0.87), molestation (0.85), rape (0.82) and confinement (0.75) in the study area. Emotional and economic forms of abuse such as exposing a child to violence, denying family members of food, denying family members of shelter, failure to provide family members with protection from harm, controlling behaviour, restricting someone to an allowance, rigidly controlling ones finances, stealing from someone or taking one’s money etc. were also reported by the respondents with high incidences in excess of 0.7. The logistic regression model was statistically significant in predicting incidence of domestic abuse, χ2 (12) = 19.967, p < .01. The model explained 49.1% of the variance in incidence of domestic abuse and correctly classified 91.3% of cases. It showed that gender, age, marital status, and level of education of the respondents reliably and significantly predict domestic abuse incidence. Rural farmers in the state, especially young couples and women farmers should be empowered through more education on fundamental human rights and domestic abuse awareness campaigns, in order for them to see themselves as important stakeholders in contributing to household income; so as to enhance their status and self worth in marriage and family life. They need more exposure and interpersonal relationship skills for conflict management both as individuals and as members of the society.Keywords: Predictive Abilities, Socio-economic variables, Domestic Abuse, Incidence

Precautionary policing and dispositives of risk in a police force control room in domestic abuse incidents: an ethnography of call handlers, dispatchers and response officers

ABSTRACTThis article explores the riskwork engaged in by call handlers, dispatchers and response officers in a police force control room in England. We present a novel approach by drawing on the work of Foucault and his concept le dispositif to study riskwork in policing in a post-austerity landscape and to develop the analytical concept of ‘precautionary policing’. Dispositional analysis allows us to focus on social dispositions or inclinations and to demonstrate how these arrangements affect social interaction and organisational behaviour. We draw on data collected via ethnographic fieldwork focusing on domestic abuse incidents in a police force control room in England. The findings focus on: (1) organisational technologies of risk, which guided and surfaced staff actions and decision-making; (2) riskwork to mitigate and manage threats and harm to victims and the public; and (3) riskwork relating to the professional decision-making of individual staff and officers. In addition to bringing the risk tools and artefacts ‘into being’ through their (inter-)actions, for staff, these technologies are a safety net to justify practices. They erode opportunities for officer discretion, particularly in relation to responses to domestic incidents. Therefore, despite policy discussions of the need to reduce officers’ risk aversion and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, a risk averse culture still pervades. Uncertainty becomes a justification for pre-emptive action by officers and staff before risks become known, and demonstrates a shift to precautionary policing practices which do not follow the blueprints of risk management.

Emotional Intelligence: Challenging the Perceptions and Efficacy of \u2018Soft Skills\u2019 in Policing Incidents of Domestic Abuse Involving Children

It is now widely accepted that living with domestic abuse (DA) can significantly affect children, with the effects of DA continuing to be felt into adulthood. The common conceptualisation of children as passive ‘witnesses’ of DA and the failure to recognise them as direct ‘victims’ in their own right, separate from adult victims, can act as a major barrier for professionals responding to children within this context. The first professionals with whom many child victims of DA come into contact often are members of the police. Yet, little is still known about how children and police officers experience these encounters. The aim of this paper is to conduct a narrative review of the existing literature on the police response to children at DA call outs through the lens of Emotional Intelligence (Goleman 1996). Reviewed studies state that a large number of police officers reported feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty at incidents of DA involving children. Children reported significant differences in empathy of officers, a key tenet of EI, which impacted their feelings of safety and visibility at incidents of DA. DA incidents are an emotionally challenging aspect of police work and most officers do not appear to have the skills to manage this effectively. The significance of speaking with children in these traumatic situations cannot be understated. EI appears to make an important contribution to the overall efficacy of officers at incidents of DA involving children.

Using restorative justice approaches to police domestic violence and abuse

The use of restorative justice in cases of domestic abuse is highly controversial. While little is known about how restorative approaches are used by the police, recent research shows they are used on a widespread basis to respond to domestic abuse throughout England and Wales (Westmarland et al, 2018). This study delves deeper, to look at 62 cases within one police force. Qualitative police data extracted from force systems were analysed to discover in what type of domestic abuse incidents restorative approaches are used, and what type of approaches are used. We argue that while the language of restorative justice was used, the spirit of restorative justice was often missing. In some cases, the police seem to be using the language of restorative justice to respond to cases they do not think would benefit from further criminal justice intervention (a ‘new NFA’ (No Further Action)). We conclude that further differentiation between different forms of domestic abuse and different forms of restorative approach is needed to enable a more informed conversation. Further, it is essential that the domestic abuse sector work more closely with restorative justice communities in order to more safely and more appropriately consider the challenges and opportunities that restorative approaches may offer.

Under the Radar: The Widespread Use of Out of Court Resolutionss in Policing Domestic Violence and Abuse in the United Kingdom (2017) British Journal of Criminology

The suitability of ‘out of court resolutions’ (restorative justice and community resolutions) in cases of domestic abuse is theoretically contentious and empirically under-researched. This study investigated the nature and extent of out of court resolutions for domestic abuse using the Freedom of Information Act. Out of court resolutions were used by every UK police force except Scotland to respond to over 5,000 domestic abuse incidents (including intimate partner abuse) in 2014. Some of these incidents related to offences with sentencing tariffs up to life imprisonment. Such widespread use has been taking place ‘under the radar’ in stark contrast to police guidance, has immediate implications for policy and practice, and fundamentally shifts the research terrain in this field.

Under the Radar: The Widespread Use of ‘Out of Court Resolutions’ in Policing Domestic Violence and Abuse in the United Kingdom

The suitability of ‘out of court resolutions’ (restorative justice and community resolutions) in cases of domestic abuse is theoretically contentious and empirically under-researched. This study investigated the nature and extent of out of court resolutions for domestic abuse using the Freedom of Information Act. Out of court resolutions were used by every UK police force except Scotland to respond to over 5,000 domestic abuse incidents (including intimate partner abuse) in 2014. Some of these incidents related to offences with sentencing tariffs up to life imprisonment. Such widespread use has been taking place ‘under the radar’ in stark contrast to police guidance, has immediate implications for policy and practice, and fundamentally shifts the research terrain in this field.