We are pleased to announce the release of six new PhD projects that will be supervised by members of the Interpersonal Relationships & Wellbeing Research Group. These opportunities are for self-funding students and align with major areas of research activity within the group.
Why study our projects?
We asked project supervisors to give us an insight into the value and importance of their proposed projects and we share their comments below. Please click on the project title links to find out more.
Dr Daniel Farrelly, Principal Lecturer in Psychology will supervise this project and Daniel explains why this work is important:
“Our early surroundings can have profound and lifelong effects on our cognition, perception and emotions. These effects shape how we respond to our world in later life, and can predict how we interpret and behave in different scenarios such as risk-taking, impulsivity and social relationships. One possible further effect our early life can have is on pro-environmental behaviour, and this project will explore precisely this. By doing so it will offer valuable insights into how attempts to tackle the climate crisis can be shaped for different populations in society.”
Dr Sarah Davis, Principal Lecturer in Psychology and Interpersonal Relationships & Wellbeing Group Lead will supervise this project. Sarah explains that:
“Training emotional competencies in the workplace has become commonplace, particularly with the rise of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. Most of us will have heard of programmes that teach ‘perspective taking’, ‘sensitivity training’, or ‘emotional intelligence’ in our workplaces. But does everyone always benefit from these ‘interventions’ at work? Might there be some unanticipated and unintended consequences for employers and employees? This research seeks to explore the scope of these practices within organisations across the UK and explore this neglected but important question.”
Dr Claire McLoone-Richards, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology and leader of our Trauma & Violence Prevention theme will supervise this project. Claire outlines why this research is valuable:
“The professional experiences and practices of child protection is complex, challenging and takes a toll on the emotional well-being and resilience of practitioners. This study can examine the need for promoting and ensuring organisational cultures of compassion and safety for staff, as being conducive to enabling critical reflective practice to protect vulnerable children.”
Dr Claire McLoone-Richards Senior Lecturer in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology and leader of our Trauma & Violence Prevention theme will supervise this project. Claire explains:
“This is an important research theme when considering the experiences of less visible and marginalised groups. The concern of male victims is troubling against the backdrop of “toxic masculinities” in society, as restrictive gender norms and the shaming of men, make it more difficult for victims to disclose their experiences of abuse.”
Dr Sajad Rezaei, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, and member of our Customer Interactions theme will supervise this project. Sajad believes that “exploring Responsible AI empowers academics and practitioners to discover the potential of emerging technologies for society.”
Dr Pamela Murray, Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, and member of our People and Work theme will supervise this project. Pamela notes that “A regrettable relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and a range of marked negative outcomes impacting the life course exists [see a recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood:
Children enter the care system for a myriad of reasons, most of which can be characterised by loss of a pivotal positive in the children’s lives. That being the case, this vision of this research is to explore enabling interventions experienced by care-leavers making their way toward personal fulfilment by achievement of career aspirations”.
If you wish to apply for any of these projects, please go to our Course Search and select the relevant research degree programme area.
An application link can then be found towards the bottom of each programme page. In your application, please remember to clearly highlight that you are applying for one of our un-funded MPhil/PhD project ideas.
Recently, there have been several programmes highlighting issues with the jury system. In the US there was Jury Duty (Heller, 2023), a reality hoax series about jury service. In this programme, all jurors, witnesses, attorneys and even the judge are actors, except for one juror, Ronald Gladden who thinks he is serving on a real jury trial. Although comedic, this programme highlights issues within the US jury system and jury decision-making more generally.
In the UK, The Jury: Murder Trial, was shown on Channel 4 (Shapira, 2024). Unlike Jury Duty, this was a dramatisation of a real, anonymised murder case with two real juries (classified as red and blue) trying the case. Neither jury was aware of one another in order to investigate whether they both reached the same verdict. The programme reiterated that little is known about jury decision making. This is not helped by restrictions imposed by s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act, 1981. Under this act, jurors are forbidden from talking about their deliberations and research inside the jury room is forbidden meaning jury decision-making processes are shrouded in secrecy (Curley et. al., 2022; Salerno & Diamond, 2010; Sprain & Gastil, 2017).
In the programme, it was evident how the individual decision quickly became a collective one, and how the group dynamic plays a crucial role in the decision-making processes, for example, the influence of strong personalities on the group. The programme also highlighted how difficult the role of the jury is, and the cognitive and emotional toll it takes on jurors. In particular, it demonstrated the dissonance in how they felt they should make the decision according to legal instruction, versus how they would like to make the decision according to their feelings or intuition. It also demonstrated how much of the decision was influenced by their own schemas and experiences, for example, one juror told the group how he threw a plate at his wife during an argument, showing how someone could lose their self-control. Additionally, it demonstrated the role of emotion in making the verdict decision. Feelings toward the defendant were portrayed by jurors who said things like, ‘I feel sorry for him’, and also towards the victim, which were often more negative and demonstrated victim blame, e.g., ‘she was goading him’. Even feelings toward the other witnesses and barristers played a role in the decision of murder or manslaughter in this case.
Although we only see a snapshot of the data/footage in these television programmes, they do highlight issues with juries that could affect fairness, and how we need to know much more about the collective decision-making processes of the jury.
My PhD research explores the group decision-making processes of the jury, and I have found similarities with these programmes, particularly The Jury: Murder Trial. I also used an anonymised murder case, and two mock juries that were present for the trial and who then deliberated to reach a verdict. These juries were not run simultaneously but on two separate occasions. My research aims to explore how the jury reach a verdict, and how the group itself i.e., interpersonal processes, group dynamics, effect or influence that decision making.
I found that the juries in my research also based their decisions on their own experiences, schemas, and values. They very quickly became a decision making group rather than a set of individuals, and although minority members conformed to the majority with very little questioning or argument, they did not recognise the influence of the group on this change of decision. Despite being in a mock jury and knowing that there were no real consequences of their decision making, I also found that jurors struggled psychologically and emotionally with their decision. They mentioned the discomfort between how they were meant to make the decision and how they actually felt the decision should go, i.e., they were instructed to make the decision objectively on the evidence presented, but felt that the defendant was actually guilty. Both groups did find the defendant ‘not guilty’ despite him being charged with murder in the real trial.
These kinds of findings, both in the Channel 4 programme, and in my research, are worrying as jurors show that they are not objective decision makers, but base their decisions on feelings, existing schemas, and the influence of the group itself.
Sarah Lloyd
Sarah Lloyd is a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the University of Worcester. She is a member of the Trauma & Violence Prevention research theme within the Interpersonal Relationships Wellbeing Research Group. Sarah is interested in how the jury collectively reach their verdict decision and the group processes involved in this. Sarah’s PhD explores this topic in the context of a murder trial. Further details of Sarah’s work can be found at https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/profiles/sarah-lloyd
Picture the scene – you’re in the cinema, ready to watch the next instalment of your favourite film franchise. As the opening credits roll, the person behind you starts talking loudly on their phone and kicking the back of your seat. How do you feel? And more specifically, are you bothered by their behaviour? The likelihood of course is that you’re extremely bothered – they’re disrupting your cinema experience. But what about if they were just whispering on their phone, or if the seat kicking was just an occasional tap? Or maybe they move to be closer to their mate, and now it’s not your seat that’s being kicked anymore, its someone else’s a few seats down. Are you still bothered?
Why does this matter?
The type of things that we notice and are bothered by affect the way that we respond to the world around us. Berkowitz (2010) noted that if we personally find a particular behaviour bothersome, we’re more likely to notice when it happens and take action to address it.
Deitch-Stackhouse et all (2015) explored this link further by investigating exactly how bothered someone must be by something, for them to regularly intervene. They found that there was a significant step up in willingness to intervene when people went from being ‘moderately bothered’ by a situation to ‘very bothered’. So essentially, we have to think that something is pretty bad in order for us to consistently notice it and think about intervening. This works reasonably well when behaviours do meet that ‘bothering’ threshold, such as someone committing assault or stealing another person’s property. These behaviours would be considered problematic to most people, usually generating a response of “this is not okay and someone should do something”. In a traffic light system, of red, amber and green, these would be considered red behaviours i.e. clearly problematic.
The traffic light analogy is a useful way to consider a range of possible behaviours across a spectrum of how problematic they are. In 2014, Brook adapted a traffic light tool from Family Planning Queensland (2012) to reflect the spectrum of behaviours in young people from unacceptable ‘red’ behaviours such as sexual harassment to more acceptable ‘green’ behaviours, such as mutually consensual hugging with peers. Essentially green behaviours are considered safe and healthy, while red behaviours are not. But what about the amber behaviours that do not fall neatly into either red or green?
The Hackett Continuum (2010) in Barter & Berridge, 2010 suggests that amber behaviours are those which have the potential to fall outside of safe and healthy behaviours, and can be affected by a range of factors, including context, age, and the vulnerability of those concerned. This can make it much more challenging to notice and correctly identify these behaviours when they happen. They can also generate a lower level of ‘bother’, resulting in little or no action being taken (remember Deitch-Stackhouse et al.’s finding from earlier that someone needed to be ‘very bothered’ by something to consistently notice and intervene). There are two options for responding to this challenge from the perspective of preventing problematic behaviour: (1) focus on addressing only the red behaviours and accept that amber behaviours are often going to be overlooked or (2) increase awareness of amber behaviours and encourage a culture where people are more bothered by them, so they are more likely to notice and intervene.
The argument for the second option is that red and amber behaviours are not separate entities. They are intrinsically linked, and a healthy culture does not include either type of behaviour, therefore increasing awareness and ‘bother’ towards amber behaviours is an important part of the prevention of violence and abuse. Steven Connell’s powerful spoken work piece ‘We Are The Lions’ includes the observation that there is often is a link between the things that we don’t have a problem with, and the things that we do, which speaks to the idea that people can often ignore or ‘shrug off’ amber behaviours as they are not deemed to be bad enough, failing to recognise that they can contribute to a culture of red behaviours. For example, someone laughing when their friend shares a sexist WhatsApp message may not feel like a big deal – they may justify it by saying it’s just a joke or that it’s not serious enough to result in any consequences for the sender (e.g. “I wouldn’t want my mate to lose out on his placement just for having a laugh”). The question then becomes: where is the line? What would it take for that person to stop brushing it off and meet Deitch-Stackhouse et al.’s threshold of being ‘very bothered’ – when a specific person was named in the message? When the sexist ‘jokes’ were made in front of others? When female friends leave a night out early because they feel so uncomfortable by the sexist ‘banter’? There has to be a line somewhere, and in order to a achieve a culture where problematic behaviour is not tolerated, the noticing and feeling bothered enough to act must start with the amber behaviours rather than waiting for the red.
There is no way to compile an exhaustive of possible amber behaviours as it encompasses so many possibilities, but essentially it is those behaviours which make someone feel uncomfortable, or would make them uncomfortable if it was directed at them or those they cared about. Of course, problematic behaviour should not be acceptable regardless of who it is directed at, but using the ‘would I feel uncomfortable if it was directed at me/my friends …?’ strategy can be an effective way to encourage people to notice behaviours that might otherwise be brushed off or go under the radar.
How to respond to amber behaviours
The short answer is to do something – be an active bystander. There is often a misperception when it comes to bystander intervention that to intervene means to be loud and accusatory “You are doing something wrong, and I am calling you out on it!” However, that is simply not the case. Being prepared to speak up and address amber behaviours simply means doing something when you encounter them. That might be having a conversation with a friend, adding a comment in a WhatsApp group that you don’t think something’s okay, or even noting that you’ll be muting the group for a while. You could also use indirect methods of intervention, such as having a conversation with a tutor, coach, or committee chair to discuss any concerns. You might distract or interrupt a situation to stop it progressing, or just ask the people around you if they also feel uncomfortable with something. Often all it takes is for one person to say they feel uncomfortable, for others to feel able to admit that that they feel the same.
Flood (2011) suggested a range of specific actions that could be taken to challenge problematic behaviours, including lower level ‘amber’ behaviours:
Ask for an explanation – the phrase ‘what do you mean?’ can be really impactive here as it requires the speaker to explain what they have just said. A sexist joke can quickly lose its humour if they are required to explain the problematic tropes contained within it.
Express your disagreement – This can be as simple of saying ‘that’s not right/okay’. If you don’t want to be confrontational in the moment, Khan (2015) suggested the phrase “I’m not interested in having this conversation right now, but it’s important for you to know that I am not okay with what you just said”. This would work face to face or as a written message e.g., on WhatsApp
Explain why you disagree with the behaviour – Khan suggested the example phrase “what you’re saying is not only untrue, but is also harmful”. You can acknowledge that they may have meant it as a joke, then note the possible effects e.g. “I think comments like that contribute to our female friends feeling less safe around us on nights out so I think we need to be more careful”
Personalise the injustice – Virginia Tech (2010) noted that a useful phrase to help personalise behaviours is “I hope no one ever talks about you like that”. You could also ask how they would feel if some behaved that way towards their friends/partner/family member.
Use impact and ‘I’ statements – this involves stating how you feel, naming the amber behaviour and noting how you want them to respond e.g. “I was annoyed when you made that comment on a night out and caused our friend to leave early. Don’t do that any more or we won’t invite you on nights out”.
Encourage their best self – use the phrase ‘come on, you’re better than that” (Be The Hero, 2009)
Use your friendship – e.g. you could say ‘as your friend, I need to tell you that showing everyone the pictures that your girlfriend sent you in private is not okay and you could get into a lot of trouble.
Invite the group to be allies – a good phrase to use here is “I don’t feel right about this. Does anyone else feel uncomfortable?” (Be the Hero, 2009)
These suggested actions align with the ‘Maate’ campaign launched by the Mayor of London in July 2023, where men were encouraged to challenge problematic behaviour from their friends by using the term “maate”. This campaign focused on the premise that many men and boys want to intervene when they see sexism and misogyny, but don’t necessarily know exactly what to say or how to start the conversation. Having a specific term to use, such as “maate”, or using some of the phrases suggested by Flood above, can mean that bystanders don’t have to come up with something in the moment, and instead can rely on an existing bank of suitable phrases and interventions.
By committing to these types of actions, every single person can start to challenge amber behaviours, often before they have the chance to turn into red ones, and in doing so, we become part of a culture where there is a clear message that violence and abuse, however low-level, will not be tolerated.
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This blog ends with a challenge – the next time you’re in a situation where you feel a little uncomfortable, even if you’re not sure why, channel Catherine Tate’s famous teenage character Lauren, and ask yourself “am I bothered?” And if you find that you are, even if the behaviour is only amber rather than red, make the decision to act
For more information about the UW Bystander Intervention Programme, please email g.harrop@worc.ac.uk or visit our website:
‘Life is difficult. This is a great truth. One of the greatest truths.’ The opening sentence of M. Scott Peck’s seminal text, The Road Less Travelled,had my attention immediately. I read his book in my very early twenties just as I was completing my student training to qualify as a Mental Health Nurse, in my home county of Donegal. The book resonated with me as young woman back then, as I had seen a lot of the harshness of life as a student nurse and the difficulties that people experienced due to mental ill health. I was also quite naive about what lay ahead for me in my life. I was optimistic about where life would take me and what I might accomplish over the course of my future and my career. I had no appreciation then that I would travel to England and be domicile here for the next thirty-five years or more, as my career and continued education opened paths and gateways that I never envisaged or anticipated. And yes, some parts of my journey were difficult, as a nod here to M. Scott Peck. When I left home for England in 1987, I promised that I would return once I considered myself to be more qualified and accomplished in my career. Surprisingly perhaps, I never thought that I would eventually achieve what would be one of my greatest achievements, that is, my PhD award.
The QAA 2020defines the main characteristics of the PhD by Publication as follows:
‘A candidate presents a portfolio of interconnected published research papers contextualised by a coherent narrative, demonstrating overall an original contribution to knowledge. Such publications may include papers, chapters, monographs, books, scholarly editions of a text, technical reports, creative works in relevant areas, or other artefact’ (p.8).
Smith 2015 emphasizes that the PhD by Publication is a very useful alternative for individuals who are already widely published, are established researchers or mid-career academics. I would also add that the route can appeal to those individuals who have a diverse professional back story on which to draw from, in the context of prospective publications on a given theme and research interest. It is fair to say that the typical traditional research doctorate is just one form of the range of other PhD programmes, including a taught PhD, or a professional doctorate. There is a consensus in academia that the undertaking of a doctoral study is about the creation of original and coherent contribution to knowledge. However, there are two key differences between the traditional PhD route and that of the PhD by Publication.
Firstly, the traditional PhD is based on a supervised programme of study with an allocated supervision team, to assist with the progression towards the submission of the final thesis. Whereas the PhD by Publication candidate will work closely with their Mentor and, their thesis is based on a selection of coherently themed peer-reviewed publications. Secondly, the candidate on the traditional route will be trained and supervised by their allocated supervisors in research methodology, to identify the most appropriate methodology for their research. Whereby the PhD by Publication candidate’s research methodology is recognised and evaluated within the retrospective analysis of their publications. The PhD by published work still attracts the smallest uptake by candidates. Admittedly, this road less travelled that I decided to navigate was in fact, long and windy. There were plenty of bumps on the way which jolted my confidence on occasion and, at certain times I got a bit lost or ran out of fuel. In some ways, it felt like a pioneering journey and at times lonesome, as there were very few of my academic colleagues or, other doctoral candidates who had or were pursuing this route.
To cut a very long story short, having worked in various services relating to mental health, drug and alcohol misuse, domestic violence, and child protection, I eventually started my academic career with the University of Worcester in the summer of 2007. I took up my position as a Senior Lecturer with the former Centre for Early Childhood and I quickly immersed myself in the business of teaching and subsequently researching and writing for publication. I was very fortunate to work with inspirational colleagues who invited and encouraged me to write a series of book chapters which focused on my expertise from my professional history. The chapter themes and peer-reviewed journal articles related to issues of children’s rights, child protection, domestic violence and subsequently, the professional development of Early Childhood Educators and Carers. My research did not happen in an isolated vacuum, I was very involved with my collegiate communities of academics and students within and beyond the university. Mantai 2017 describes how PhD candidates interact with others, develop their own support networks and learn and develop internally and externally to their research environments. This is despite the soundings in the literature of student isolation and loneliness.
Mantai (2017) also relates how doctoral candidates face many intellectual and emotional challenges, some of which can result in students’ ‘feelings of intellectual inferiority’ amongst their peers, akin to imposter syndrome (p.638). I reflect on how I had to really dig deep at times to find my doctoral voice. One of the safest places in doing so was with my wonderful PhD Mentor, who gave me the time and space to articulate my ideas, my research woes and my thinking about how to extrapolate the essential ‘cover story’ Lee, 2010, of my combined selected publications for the final portfolio. In amplifying my doctoral voice, I made good use of research seminars to talk to my peers about my research journey so far. I also attended national and international conferences to present my research and the germinating synthesis of my combined publications and their contribution to knowledge.
The final examination of the PhD by Publication does of course involve the Viva as with all PhD candidates. The submitted review of my selected publications, along with the necessary synthesis of the publications to demonstrate their coherency, originality and critical contribution to knowledge underwent the required examination and scrutiny. Undoubtedly, this was a challenging and extraordinary experience in the last lap of my PhD journey, but I endured and enjoyed it very much indeed.
Niven and Grant 2012 write how they discovered that PhDs by publications ‘are not an ‘easy way out’ to the qualification’….there is nothing in our experience that suggests this mode is ‘easier’ than traditional doctoral studies’ (p.110). The authors comment on the most rewarding and creative aspects of this PhD route which is the ‘importance of the person of the researcher’ (p.110) and the significance of the reflective narrative of the doctoral experience as a journey. These thoughts are salient as I conclude with my own observations as a previous PhD by Publication candidate. In research ‘emphasis is given to the importance of “critical subjectivity” which should not be suppressed, as it is also an anchor to the researcher’s inquiry so that we do not become overwhelmed….[or] become lost in our own narrative’ McLoone-Richards, 2021, p. 4. In short, as researchers we all have our stories based on our personal, professional and academic experiences. These narratives inform who we are as researchers, and it is this recognition that particularly resonates with the PhD by Publication in extricating the so called ‘cover-story’ of our collected works.
Key Messages for the potential PhD by Publication candidate:
As a published author or if you are considering developing your publication profile, do remain mindful of the importance of identifying the common and coherent theme/s within your final selection of publications for your thesis.
You should have the opportunity to be involved in the selection of your Mentor who will work closely with you for the duration of your PhD journey. Ideally, this should be someone who has previous knowledge and experience of the PhD by Publication route. So, ensure this person is someone you can relate to as this is important in developing a constructive, challenging and supportive academic relationship.
Finally, have faith in yourself and your abilities. There will be good days and there will be days when you may feel like giving up on your PhD, but keep going on that road!
Dr. Claire McLoone-Richards
Claire is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology, School of Psychology, University of Worcester, and a member of the Trauma & Violence Prevention research theme within the Interpersonal Relationships and Wellbeing Research Group. She is currently the Course Leader for the MA in Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence MA Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence and her research and teaching expertise is related to child and adult protection, institutional child abuse, professional advocacy and violence prevention.
What are the psychological consequences of working in this field for women survivors of abuse?
Women’s community groups as well as domestic and sexual abuse support organisations provide safe spaces of healing for women surviving trauma and abuse; spaces where mutual understanding and shared experience can offer a sense of hope and recovery. It is quite usual for a significant proportion of support workers and practitioners within these organisations to share lived experiences of abuse, estimated to constitute over 50% of organisational staffing (Slattery and Goodman, 2009; Bemiller and Williams, 2011). This has been common since the first women’s groups were formed in communities in the 1960s and 1970s in England and these women’s community services are arguably never more needed than currently, given the current epidemic of violence against women and girls being perpetrated (Justice Inspectorates, 2021).
However, what of the impact on support workers with lived experience of abuse? I interviewed twelve women support workers from five different women’s support organisations to ask about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences regarding their career choice and to enquire how this had affected them in terms of both positive and negative emotional impacts. What were they gaining personally and what was the impact on them when undertaking this emotionally challenging work?
Creating something positive from lived experience of abuse
The findings from my study (Gilbert, 2020), found that the experience was distinctly personal to each woman I interviewed, as was the readiness to feel able to work in women’s support work. Overwhelmingly, a key benefit for interviewees was the notion of purpose. For women survivors who chose to work in domestic abuse support work, this practice role could be the mechanism for many to achieve a personal sense of purpose and to make sense of a traumatic period in their own lives, using the experience in a positive way. One woman spoke about this in detail to me and said,
“I suppose it’s a silver thread that can be pulled from the trauma of what I went through. I can pull one positive aspect from the experience of abuse and use it for something good, something honourable – helping other women to move from victim to survivor, like I was able to, with the help of other women survivors. “
In addition to purpose and meaning, women spoke of the rise in their own self-esteem and their feelings of a sense of belonging to something important. In being able to work as a professional in domestic/sexual abuse support work, this enabled survivors to rebuild their sense of confidence and created a sense of empowerment by enabling them to create a professional life after experiencing abuse themselves. Women interviewed identified an environment of shared understanding, a sense of feeling comfortable, and to have had a sense of a unique connection with their women service users. The notion of having ‘walked in the same shoes’, enabled survivor support workers to feel able to provide what they described as an authenticity of support to other women experiencing abuse and violence. They strongly believed that in offering what could be termed ‘peer’ support, this felt very different to support from someone without similar shared lived experience.
Personal costs of survivor support work
Conversely, there were personal costs to being involved in support work as a survivor. The main issue appeared to be triggering painful memories and trauma, irrespective of the time between experience and practice. Some women survivors found it difficult not to recall events in their own lived experience when working with women service users, especially if their personal accounts resonated with their own experiences. Vicarious trauma is a potential risk for all support workers of victims of domestic abuse, so, too, burnout or countertransference (Iliffe and Steed, 2000).
The protective factor to mitigate against risk was supportive supervision from a line manager or a clinical colleague, and from this small-scale study, for many of these practitioners, this was not provided and did not meet their needs as survivors support workers. The further saturation of hearing about domestic abuse and in hearing the distress of service users over and above the survivor’s own lived experience is likely to be damaging without such clinical support.
Summary
The benefits to both survivor support work and to the women service user can be powerful within the domestic violence and women’s support sector. Survivor support workers can gain a sense of self- actualisation, esteem and belonging when working in their practitioner roles.
However, there can be a risk of re-victimisation to the support worker, particularly where appropriate clinical supervisory support is not provided. In using their own lived experience as a source of knowledge, a survivor support worker can enhance her own sense of self-worth, using her experience positively to add to her own process of recovery and self-actualisation.
There is a wealth of specialist women’s community support knowledge in the UK, including grassroots organisations formed by and for survivors themselves. Many of these are outside of the main large charity organisational funding steams and they struggle to maintain their services in the face of increasing demand and short-term funding arrangements. The whole domestic abuse support sector needs longer term, ringfenced funding for specialist domestic abuse support organisations (SafeLives, 2021), especially those who provide for disadvantaged groups, those with complex disadvantage or those serving (semi) rural areas. This will then enable all survivor support workers to access the appropriate level of clinical or support supervision that they need to remain safe whilst undertaking this challenging but essential service in our community.
This blog post is based on a presentation delivered by Beverley Gilbert, Senior Lecturer, University of Worcester at the 4th European Conference on Domestic Violence on 15th September 2021, held online from Slovenia.
Beverley Gilbert
Beverley is a Senior Lecturer in Violence Prevention and Criminology at the University of Worcester. Her academic career follows 30 years working in various roles within the criminal justice sector. Her PhD research with Anglia Ruskin University examines peer mentoring with women who have multiple and complex disadvantages. Beverley is a member of the Trauma and Violence Prevention research theme at the University of Worcester, she is an Independent Member of Women Against Violence in Europe (WAVE) and Associate Member of Work with Perpetrators – European Network (WWP-EN).
The horrific details of the murder of Sarah Everard are shocking. Wayne Couzens, an off-duty police officer with the Metropolitan Police, admitted killing Sarah in March 2021. He used his power as a police officer and falsely arrested Sarah Everard as she walked home in London, abducted her, then raped and murdered her. The details of the case are harrowing, and the impact of Sarah’s murder described by her family and friends is heart-breaking. Couzens has received a whole-life sentence for his crimes, meaning he will never be released from prison. The case has highlighted fears that many women face about their own safety, and has a much wider impact on society and trust in the police.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, acknowledged that the actions of Couzens had ‘shaken’ trust in the police. So what does this mean for policing, and what can the police do to rebuild the trust of the public?
Why trust matters in Policing
Effective policing relies on having the trust of the public. Levels of trust in the police depend on both personal contact and expectations of individual encounters with the police, and also confidence that the police as an institution will act as expected. Bradford and Jackson suggest that there are three dimensions of trust in the police, with the expectation that the organisation and individual officers will “be effective, will be fair, and will display values that are aligned with one’s own or one’s community.” Trust is a key element of police legitimacy whereby the public essentially accept the authority of the police as legitimate, and therefore comply with police actions and decisions. The procedural justice model found that compliance and legitimacy is gained through officers acting with fairness, treating people with respect and explaining their actions.
Measures of police legitimacy have been included in the Crime Survey for England and Wales which asks to what extent respondents agree that the police act lawfully, act consistently with their own ideas of right and wrong, and should accept police decisions. The results showed that whilst three quarters of people said they had confidence in the police, fewer (61%) agreed it was their duty to accept police decisions.
How might trust be restored?
Following on from the events surrounding the circumstances of Sarah Everard’s murder, there are a number of areas that the police could consider to start to restore the trust and confidence of the public.
Firstly is recruitment. Police officers and staff are vetted prior to being employed, to assess their integrity and suitability for police work. Couzens passed the vetting process and remained in post with full authority. The vetting processes and procedures for maintaining professional standards may well need to be reviewed to check they are robust and fit for purpose. The College of Policing offers guidance for police forces on making decisions about integrity, making sure officers and staff behave in an appropriate way, and providing transparency about the decisions that are made. The College of Policing publishes the Barred List annually, detailing officers and police staff who have been dismissed from their roles, including reasons for dismissal. In 2019-20, 232 officers were added to the barred list; most frequent reasons for their barring were: integrity (n=85), honesty (n=59), failure to perform duty (n=31), and abuse of position for sexual purposes (n=31). Whilst this offers some level of transparency, and the process has removed officers who should not be in a position of trust, there may be some question as to whether this is effective enough.
Changing Police culture
A culture of sexism and institutional misogyny has been reported to be widespread within the police service, and needs to be thoroughly investigated. This has been highlighted by the Police Federation’s National Women’s Group who described the pervasive nature of misogyny, frequently facing male ‘banter’ and questioning their competency for the job. However, in wider society misogynistic behaviour towards women is often tolerated, and accepted as part of the normal culture. Nottinghamshire Police piloted a policy of recording misogyny as a hate crime. An evaluation of this police found shockingly high levels of misogynistic activity, with the majority of women experiencing this behaviour, but with very few incidents being reported to the police. The experiences described have become normalised, and many women thought the police would not take any action, would not take it seriously or may blame them for attracting this behaviour.
Police effectiveness in tackling violence against women and girls
Violence against women and girls is widespread – women and girls are disproportionately victims of violent crime including rape, other sexual offences, domestic violence, stalking and honour based crimes. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) recently published the report of their inspection of how effectively the police engage with women and girls. Data reported by HMICFRS indicated many types of violent crimes where women are disproportionately victimised, with sexual grooming, sexual activity involving a child under 16, exposure and voyeurism and stalking all recording over 80% of victims as being female.
In addition, a public survey by the HMICFRS found that trust in the police to keep women and girls safe was low: they reported that 14 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘Police in my area work to prevent violence against women and girls’, with the same percentage agreeing that ‘I trust the police to prevent violence against women and girls’. Respondents wanted the police to:
Take offences against women more seriously (including arresting and charging more offenders for all types of violence/abuse; acting earlier so violence doesn’t escalate; speed up the process of dealing with offences; listening to women’s concerns about safe spaces; prioritising violence against women)
Ensure police have the correct values with more empathy towards female victims and that misogynistic behaviour is tackled;
Stop victim-blaming and put the responsibility on male perpetrators; and
Work in partnership with other organisations to address the epidemic of sexual violence and image-based crimes that particularly affect girls.
Making changes
The Government’s strategy for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls focuses on increasing support for victims, and increasing the number of perpetrators brought to justice, with the overall aim of reducing the prevalence of violence against women and girls. Victim engagement with the police is key to this, to increase the number of women feeling confident enough to report these crimes, and to engage with the police and the wider criminal justice system. Effective implementation of this strategy needs the police to be seen to be trustworthy. As the Metropolitan Police announce an independent review into the standards and culture with the aim of rebuilding public trust, and the Home Secretary promises an public inquiry into police vetting procedures, behaviour and discipline, this may lead to culture change and improved practice within the police service more widely.
Dr Rosie Erol
Rosie is a researcher in the School of Psychology, and leads the Trauma and Violence Prevention research theme. She joined the University of Worcester in 2011, having worked previously as a senior researcher at the Home Office.
