Learning from Domestic Homicide Reviews using Experience Based Co-Design

The proposed study addresses important gaps in existing knowledge of domestic homicide and aims to learn from the experiences of families who have lost a relative to domestic homicide, victims/survivors of domestic abuse; professionals and domestic homicide reviews (DHRs) to document, analyse, map, and influence policy and practice to prevent future domestic homicides. The definition of domestic homicide used in this study will follow that of the Home Office (2016) guidance. To build comprehensive knowledge of the learning from DHRs, the study is organised in three work packages:

In Work Package 1 we will conduct a systematic literature review of i) international approaches to the review of domestic homicides; ii) identify key learning from international DHRs and iii) investigate any resultant initiatives from the DHRs, focusing on their impact.

In Work Package 2 we will firstly retrieve and use a quantitative approach to analyse all publicly available DHRs from 322 Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) in England & Wales post June 2016 (approximately 200) to add to our existing dataset and preliminary analysis of 141 DHRs (collected from July 2011 - June 2016). We will refine the template created in our pilot study to identify and extract variables from DHRs to feed into SPSS. Descriptive analysis will be carried out to generate frequencies and proportions, with cross-tabulation of key variables. Statistical tests will also be used to identify key trends and risk factors. Secondly, we will conduct an in-depth qualitative analysis of a sample of DHRs of: i) adult family homicides; ii) complex cases where domestic abuse co-exists with substance misuse, mental health or disability; iii) families with children under 18; iv) black and minority ethnic families; v) analyse the recommendations made in DHRs in the above and vi) create an open access repository of DHRs. Sample sizes for the subsets will be worked out once all DHRs have been collected and categorised. These subsets are based on our preliminary analysis of DHRs (Chantler et al, forthcoming) and existing DHR literature. This work package will provide a large scale analysis of DHRs as well as a focussed analysis of specific sub-sets and can be utilised to inform prevention and risk management of domestic abuse cases that may lead to homicide.

Work Package 3 employs an experience-based co-design (EBCD) approach, an innovative, action orientated methodology bringing an additional dimension to interrogate the utility, learning and future development of services from domestic homicide reviews. Gwent and Lancashire (covering 19 CSPs) will act as study sites for the EBCD component. EBCD is a staged process involving gathering experiences and views of i) family members who have lost a relative to domestic homicide; ii) survivors of domestic abuse who have experienced assaults or stalking. Twenty one-to-one in-depth video interviews will be conducted which will be analysed using the Listening Guide method (Gilligan & Brown 1991) to identify 'touch points' to illustrate the journeys of victims, families, good practice and lost opportunities for intervention. The videos will be edited down in consultation with participants to create a digital story as the basis for conjoint activities to develop new ways of working. Twenty interviews will also be conducted with professionals who have worked with victims or been involved in DHRs and these will be analysed thematically. Following the analysis of WP1 and 2, and the identification of themes from interviews, a full day event will be convened with the two CSP networks to share the learning and to identify priorities for action.

An advisory group comprising representatives of Social Work, Policing, Health, CSPs, AAFDA, Safe-Net, AGENDA, survivors, academic experts, Home Office and authors and quality assurers of DHRs will provide expertise, help with recruitment and are key to dissemination and impact.

The number of DHRs per locality is small so generating learning from a national sample will be valuable for both local and national level policy makers. The EBCD methodology takes research findings directly into policy and practice environments as we will work with a range of CSPs in partnership with surviving family members so that findings can be incorporated into service development, benefiting victims and their families more widely. Key beneficiaries include:
1) Policy makers and commissioners: will value the information that our analysis of DHRs yields regarding indicators of high risk and effective components of service responses to DVA. The literature review findings will have the capacity to shape the development of new approaches to reviewing homicides in the UK and internationally.
2) Managers and Practitioners: will benefit from the learning provided about direct work with DVA victims, perpetrators and children living with DVA. This can be widely disseminated through training and other forms of education as well as via the study outputs.
3) Victims of Domestic Violence: findings can be used to improve the identification and support provided to DVA victims, so reducing the likelihood of domestic homicide.
4) Families of Victims Domestic Homicide: findings will be relevant for family members of domestic homicides and the organisations that represent them. The study will produce evidence and narrative accounts that organisations representing survivors, such as AAFDA, can utilise in campaigns to reduce domestic homicides. Evidence generated by the research can be used to strengthen the professional response to the needs of family members of domestic homicide survivors.
5) General Public: the research team will use press releases and publications in the wider media to draw public attention to the phenomenon of domestic homicide and its links to DVA so heightening public awareness of DVA as a widespread and serious risk.
Three categories of impact (Nutley et al 2007) can be identified for this study:
1) Instrumental impact - influencing policy, practice and service provision. The EBCD methodology offers opportunities for the participating CSPs to enhance policy and practice to prevent domestic homicides. The digital recordings produced can be used more widely by other CSPs and in training programmes to improve students' and practitioners' ability to identify those at risk of domestic homicide and offer appropriate interventions, so preventing deaths. The systematic review of the international literature will be valuable for those involved in designing and developing review systems for domestic homicide and will inform the next generation of domestic homicide review systems.
2) Capacity building - technical and personal skill development. The analysis of DHRs in WP2 has the potential to inform the development of risk assessment tools and indicators, contributing to improved identification and protection of potential victims of domestic homicide. Establishing a national DHR repository will broaden access to DHRs for researchers, educators, policy makers and commissioners. The repository will be designed to allow educators and researchers to search DHRs in relation to key themes and categories so enhancing their utility.
3) Conceptual impact - reframing of debates. This study will highlight the value of DHRs as a source of evidence for a range of public services involved in preventing violence, including criminal justice, social care, health services and third sector organisations. It will also emphasise the value of looking beyond oft-repeated messages about failings in interagency communication to interrogate how DHRs are used in both policy and practice. The interagency perspective of DHRs provides an impetus for interdisciplinary research and the interdisciplinary nature of the research team will ensure that the research messages reach researchers, practitioners and students from a range of disciplines