Research degree: PhD
Start date: 2022
Research summary
Project Title: Police Perpetrated Domestic Abuse; Exploring the narratives of victim/survivors and police investigators
In March 2020 the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) submitted a super-complaint which alleged police forces in England and Wales were inadequately responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA). The CWJ presented 11 overarching concerns including failures in investigations and improper responses to complaints. Although research on PPDA is sparse, studies have found that 40% of officers self-reported being physically violent towards their spouses (Johnson 1991; Neidig, Russell and Seng 1992). Building from the evidence in the super-complaint and previous literature, this research explores the victim/survivor and police investigator narratives of the reporting processes and investigations of PPDA, and whether police culture impacts on those experiences.
The aim of this research is to gain an insight into current reporting, investigation and victim support in cases of PPDA. It explores the narratives of both victim/survivors and police investigators of PPDA to gain an understanding of the reporting process, investigation process and whether police culture impacts the investigation or victim/survivor.
Get in touch
We are keen to promote partnership; collaboration and employment opportunities for our students from day one.
Collaboration can take many forms – from co-developing the research a postgraduate student is undertaking for their PhD, to engaging a PhD student on a specific project that does not link directly to their PhD but uses their skills to address an issue.
If you are interested in engaging with this researcher, please get in touch with them:
Research Supervisor: Charlotte Barlow, Les Humphreys
Student: Louise Williams
