Understanding Domestic Homicide in Scotland : Exploring Patterns, Promoting Safeguarding
Lead Research Organisation:
Glasgow Caledonian University
Department Name: Glasgow School for Business and Society
Abstract
In the UK, over the past ten years, on average a woman is killed by her partner or former partner every 4 days. While our understanding of domestic abuse in all its forms has increased in recent years, we know significantly less about how this leads to homicide. Current data sets fail to unpack the complexity of factors that precede domestic homicide, yet this knowledge and understanding of the people, places and their interactions may offer us the best opportunities to prevent further deaths. Similarly, some deaths are 'hidden' such as suicides that are preceded by domestic abuse, but little is known about this phenomenon. It is these gaps in knowledge that this collaborative project between Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Glasgow, Police Scotland and violence against women and girls (VAWG) public and third sector partners seeks to fill.
Our overarching aim is to work collaboratively and build on our existing relationships between the universities and Police Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and relevant third sector organisations to more fully understand domestic homicide of women, the patterns of behaviour that precede it, the challenges it presents in terms of prevention, and the opportunities that may exist for safeguarding. We aim to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practice between us as we co-design the project and create a community of practice around domestic homicide in Scotland.
The project will begin by examining existing literature on domestic homicide before undertaking a focussed pilot study analysing police case file data for a sample of domestic homicides over a period of ten years. This will create a unique 'data profile' for each case derived from information about victims, perpetrators, the offence and context in which it occurred. We will develop offence timelines and typologies and unpack the complex interpersonal and contextual dynamics and patterns across cases that we analyse. Our work will also draw on social network analysis to understand the dynamics of perpetration, victimisation and risk, and create a visual representation of the dynamic nature of relationships, events and contexts to identify future opportunities for safeguarding and prevention.
Our project will be supported by four focussed collaborative workshops with project partners - Police Scotland and public and third sector organisations. These will be focused on: developing our pilot study and overall collaborative approach to the project; reflecting on the findings of the pilot study and making meaning from them; considering what is still to be known and developing a methodology for a larger project; 'hidden homicides', domestic abuse and suicide, and the further development of a follow-on study. These will be structured using the World Café method, supported by a professional illustrator to tell a visual story of the development of this community of practice, key milestones and learning points.
The project will produce a range of outputs for a variety of audiences including: an online webinar/conference; a digital learning resource using innovative learning software for dissemination to stakeholders and their organisations to strengthen the community of practice and create further partnerships and connections; a project website with a 'Slack Chat' type tool to facilitate continued dialogue and the development of further research, learning and practice. We will also produce short research briefings for practitioners, policy makers and academics, a final project report including an executive summary and infographics, and at least two academic articles for publication in leading journals. We will also co-produce a further larger collaborative project for which we will seek additional funding with a view to examining a wider sample of domestic homicides, attempted domestic homicides and 'hidden homicides' of women in Scotland.
Our overarching aim is to work collaboratively and build on our existing relationships between the universities and Police Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and relevant third sector organisations to more fully understand domestic homicide of women, the patterns of behaviour that precede it, the challenges it presents in terms of prevention, and the opportunities that may exist for safeguarding. We aim to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practice between us as we co-design the project and create a community of practice around domestic homicide in Scotland.
The project will begin by examining existing literature on domestic homicide before undertaking a focussed pilot study analysing police case file data for a sample of domestic homicides over a period of ten years. This will create a unique 'data profile' for each case derived from information about victims, perpetrators, the offence and context in which it occurred. We will develop offence timelines and typologies and unpack the complex interpersonal and contextual dynamics and patterns across cases that we analyse. Our work will also draw on social network analysis to understand the dynamics of perpetration, victimisation and risk, and create a visual representation of the dynamic nature of relationships, events and contexts to identify future opportunities for safeguarding and prevention.
Our project will be supported by four focussed collaborative workshops with project partners - Police Scotland and public and third sector organisations. These will be focused on: developing our pilot study and overall collaborative approach to the project; reflecting on the findings of the pilot study and making meaning from them; considering what is still to be known and developing a methodology for a larger project; 'hidden homicides', domestic abuse and suicide, and the further development of a follow-on study. These will be structured using the World Café method, supported by a professional illustrator to tell a visual story of the development of this community of practice, key milestones and learning points.
The project will produce a range of outputs for a variety of audiences including: an online webinar/conference; a digital learning resource using innovative learning software for dissemination to stakeholders and their organisations to strengthen the community of practice and create further partnerships and connections; a project website with a 'Slack Chat' type tool to facilitate continued dialogue and the development of further research, learning and practice. We will also produce short research briefings for practitioners, policy makers and academics, a final project report including an executive summary and infographics, and at least two academic articles for publication in leading journals. We will also co-produce a further larger collaborative project for which we will seek additional funding with a view to examining a wider sample of domestic homicides, attempted domestic homicides and 'hidden homicides' of women in Scotland.
| Description | Our research has enabled a rich qualitative understanding of factors present in domestic homicide. Analysis of timelines and events within domestic relationships that end in homicide reveals relationship trajectories more complex than those currently documented. • We did not find observable linear escalation or staged timelines, but found two emergent patterns. • Some cases had no reported violence or abuse or agency involvement for the majority of the relationship, with abuse culminating in the months and years immediately before the homicide. • In contrast, other relationships were characterised by significant and repeating violence from early on and throughout the relationship with contemporaneous agency involvement and disclosure. Our findings show a more complex understanding of the role social isolation/connection plays in domestic abuse than previously reported. • We often found well-connected victims with multiple jobs and many friends/family. • This connectivity may represent 'safety zones' for women providing legitimate reasons to be outside the home. • Multiple jobs may also be indicative of financial abuse where victims are responsible for household income, restricting their capacity for leisure activity and allowing greater monitoring. • Victims' isolation when present was sometimes a result of withdrawal of family/friends to either avoid the perpetrator and his behaviour or in the hope it might encourage the victim to end the relationship. • Where victims were well-connected, the abuse was not fully disclosed therefore these connections were not protective. • Perpetrator networks often contrasted markedly with that of victims; some were very poorly connected, rarely left home, had few friends, leisure activities, and no job. Others were well known to people but had few close connections of meaning on account of troubling behaviour. • For some perpetrators, isolation was exacerbated by, or an indicator of, mental health problems. There was evidence of paranoid thoughts among perpetrators, particularly towards victims, and social isolation may have contributed to reduced opportunities for these beliefs to be countered. Almost half of cases had no domestic abuse footprint with agencies, and victims were rarely engaged with specialist support. Agency engagement for both perpetrators and victims was more common for drugs/alcohol and mental health suggesting a greater role for safeguarding in these settings. Police case file analysis is useful for deepening our understanding of domestic abuse and homicide, and qualitative analysis affords the opportunity for contextual understanding of contributing factors. We established a process for temporal analysis beyond basic timelines that has allowed for a deeper understanding of relationship trajectories in domestic abuse. We identified analysis of social networks as a key tool for understanding the nature and meaning of social connections in domestic abuse relationships and its utility for assessing the role connections may play in safeguarding. The project built upon existing networks, and using World Café Method and a co-production approach, established a community of practice of academic, third and public sector partners. The project began with 4 non-academic partners, and closed with 10. The network has been drawn upon to support research bids in other related gender-based violence areas. |
| Exploitation Route | We envisage our findings will raise awareness of possible risk factors and opportunities for safeguarding in cases of domestic abuse and they will be used by professionals in health, social work, criminal justice, and third sector support organisations when assessing risk and vulnerability for both victims and perpetrators with whom they engage. The findings are directly relevant to qualitative assessment of risk for those experiencing or perpetrating domestic abuse and who may engage with these professionals. We envisage our findings will be used by academic researchers to consider a more nuanced approach to assessing timelines and relationship trajectories in cases of domestic abuse, and a fuller assessment of social connections of both perpetrator and victim social networks. Our evidence of the potential role of perpetrator isolation and patterns of victim isolation opens up new angles on which future research may be built. Our findings draw upon a small sample using in-depth qualitative analysis and reveal patterns that offer the opportunity to be tested by others using alternative or similar methods. The research was a small focussed pilot study therefore findings are emergent, and offer a platform on which to build further research. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.sipr.ac.uk/udhis/ |
| Description | The project has contributed knowledge to inform policy and practice around domestic abuse and homicide, informing practitioners, policy makers and academics about potential indicators of risk, and opportunities for safeguarding. As a recently completed project, and dissemination ongoing we anticipate short, medium and long-term impacts. The project's creation of a multi-sector collaborative community of practice in Scotland, around domestic homicide, has brought ten third and public sector organisations from criminal justice, health and support services, together with academics from two universities, and provided a space for inter-professional learning and development not previously available. This has fostered inter-agency collaboration and knowledge-sharing to advance understanding of domestic homicide more broadly, and facilitated professional relationships and collaboration. The collaboration with Police Scotland has facilitated streamlined processes for data access and sharing of some of the most sensitive data, that will benefit future research and inquiry utilising police case data. The project has provided an in-depth, rich, qualitative understanding of contextual factors that may influence domestic homicide, and in doing so provided practitioners and policy makers with additional areas of consideration of potential risk than were previously documented. The study is a focussed pilot study, using a discreet sample, therefore findings cannot be extrapolated into sector-wide risk assessment tools at this stage, but the insight we have generated around perpetrator isolation and the processes through which victims become isolated, has raised awareness of additional risk factors among practitioners working directly with those affected, and involved in risk processes such as Multi Agency Risk-Assessment Conferences. The tools currently available to practitioners do not incorporate perpetrator isolation, therefore the project has increased awareness of qualitative indicators that practitioners in these settings should be cognisant of. The project has extended practitioners' and policy-makers' understanding of relationship trajectories in domestic abuse relationships that end in homicide might be understood. Sharing our process and findings around temporal sequencing that show emergent patterns beyond those currently documented, has provided practitioners with additional tools to understand how domestic abuse and risk of homicide may escalate or de-escalate. Longer-term we envisage our research will impact directly on criminal justice practice in relation to domestic abuse. We have highlighted key findings around risk and response, and identified areas of further investigation and intervention, and shared these with criminal justice partners where they will be incorporated into continuing professional development. Findings have been shared directly with the Scottish Government Domestic Homicide and Suicide Review Task Group and we envisage they will contribute to the introduction of these processes in Scotland in the medium to longer term. The project had identified emergent patterns, and new knowledge that offers academics, practitioners and policy makes a platform on which to build future research, intervention and evaluation in this area. We envisage a number of possible collaborations moving forward with a focus on a range of forms of violence against women and girls. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Title | Established a form of analysis and presentation of social networks and connections using association charts that allowed for the networks of individuals to be mapped and visualised. |
| Description | Established a form of analysis and presentation of social networks and connections using association charts that allowed for the networks of individuals to be mapped and visualised. Each individual named within the case file was coded in terms of their relationship to either the victim or perpetrator or both and whether there was a connection with other individuals within the network. The nature of this relationship was recorded, and described and specific features recorded such as whether the relationship was recent or long standing; ongoing or disrupted; or abusive. This was also cross matched with the descriptive timeline recorded for each case, where additional features of the relationship and events which affected the existence or nature of the relationship were noted. A subjective assessment of the nature and strength of the relationship was achieved through discussion between the researchers. Association charts for each case were constructed manually using LucidChart to illustrate the size and structure of each network and the nature of the relationship between each individual. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This method of qualitative analysis is likely to be useful to researchers assessing the role of social networks and connections, victimisation and perpetration, in a range of crime types. |
| Title | Temporal analysis of relationships and their trajectory |
| Description | Comparative temporal analysis drawing on data concerning specific events in the relationship. For each case a temporal 'sequence' was constructed using Excel, and colour codes were used to illustrate: when abuse began and recurred; when intervention was made by statutory and voluntary agencies; when the relationship ended or where there were breaks in the relationship; and when the perpetrator was in custody. These were represented proportionally in relation to the length of the relationship, allowing pattern comparison across the cases whilst maintaining case anonymisation. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | We anticipate this form of analysis and presentation of temporal patterns will be useful for researchers and faciliate visualisation and comparison of relationship trajectories and events related to a number of crime types. |
| Description | Article in The National newspaper about the study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The National article titled 'Researchers to study murders of victims of domestic abuse' covering the launch of the project; this led to contacts from members of the public interested in the project including bereaved families, practitioners and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Article in the The Metro covering the study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Metro article titled 'Domestic Abuse Murder Study to Prevent Deaths' covering the launch of the project; this led to contacts from members of the public interested in the project including bereaved families, practitioners and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Contribution to a newspaper article in The Sunday Post on prevention of violence against women and girls |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contribution to a newspaper article in The Sunday Post on violence against women and girls and prevention at a younger age. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Daily Express Article about the project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Daily Express article titled 'Study Aims to Prevent Murders of Women' covering the launch of the project; this led to contacts from members of the public interested in the project including bereaved families, practitioners and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Entry in Scottish Institute for Policing Annual Report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Entry about the project in the Scottish Institute for Policing Research raising the profile of the project and generating interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.sipr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SIPR-Annual-report-2023.pdf |
| Description | Interview and article for Holyrood Magazine on domestic abuse deaths |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Interview for print article 'The F-Word: Homicide Figures Have Decreased, But Killings of Women Have Gone Up' and online article 'As Killings of Women Increase in Scotland, is Femicide the real F Word?' in Holyrood Magazine. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,as-killings-of-women-increase-in-scotland-is-femicide-... |
| Description | Interview and support provided to BBC Scotland for documentary on domestic abuse and homicide |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Advice and guidance provided to BBC Scotland for making a documentary for Disclosure, a BBC Scotland programme on domestic abuse. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation and Workshop Discussion with Senior Police Officers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation and workshop to senior police officers working in public protection policing from Detective Inspector to Assistant Chief Constable generating discussion about the application of findings to practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation at ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Research Centre, Violence Against Women and Girls Showcase Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the project to c. 100 academics, practitioners and policy makers gathered to hear about research on violence against women and girls at a day long event. Sharing good practice and new ground breaking research with those most likely to use it academically and in policy making and practice. The event generated considerable interest in the project and it's methodology, generating a list of contacts to disseminate findings to when completed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership Event on Domestic Homicide |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Over 130 practitioners from the third and public sectors attended an event on domestic homicide where we presented our main findings. This generated discussion of how these might be applied in practice around risk assessment, how they might inform future work, and generated interest in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation to Key Project Stakeholders |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop presentation to key project stakeholders involved in the collaboration and co-production that generated discussion of the findings and their application. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation to the Scottish Government Domestic Homicide and Suicide Review Taskforce |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of key research findings to the Scottish Government Domestic Homicide and Suicide Review Taskforce generating discussion of the utility of the findings for furthering understanding and domestic homicide review. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation/Dissemination Event for SafeLives |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Practitioners from the third, public and policy sectors attended an online webinar where we presented our main findings. This generated discussion of how these might be applied in practice, how they might inform future work, and generated interest in current and future work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Press Release for the project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Press released issued in January 2023 to mark the start of the first in-depth project to look at domestic homicide in Scotland. Subsequently picked up but four print media outlets and one radio outlet. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.gcu.ac.uk/aboutgcu/universitynews/researchers-to-analyse-case-files-of-domestic-abuse-mu... |
| Description | Project Website in Collaboration with Scottish Institute for Policing Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Project website in collaboration with project partner Scottish Institute for Policing Research that allow information about the project to be accessed, and for future outputs to be publicised. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.sipr.ac.uk/udhis/ |
| Description | Radio Interview about the study on BBC Radio Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview about domestic homicide and the study, and how our study will seek to inform safeguarding and prevention, on BBC Radio Scotland |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Radio Interview about the study on Clyde One Radio Station |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview about domestic homicide and the study, and how our study will seek to inform safeguarding and prevention, on Clyde One Radio Station. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on Developing a Methodology for Domestic Homicide Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with practitioners from domestic abuse charities, statutory support services, NHS, Police Scotland and the project team to workshop research methodology for examining domestic homicide. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on Future Directions for Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with practitioners from domestic abuse charities, statutory support services, NHS, HMICS, Police Scotland and the project team discussing future directions for research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshop on Project Findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with practitioners from domestic abuse charities, statutory support services, NHS, HMICS, Police Scotland and the project team to consider findings from the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshop on Suicide as a result of domestic abuse |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with practitioners from domestic abuse charities, statutory support services, NHS, Police Scotland and the project team on suicide as a component of domestic abuse. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |