Dr Paul Hargreaves

For his doctoral research, Paul explored the frontline implementation of the Domestic Abuse Stalking Honour based violence Risk Identification Checklist (DASH RIC) by police officers and their risk level decisions. Tackling domestic abuse has become a key issue for police forces, and advancements are still at a relatively early stage.

His aim was to inform policymakers and managers of the challenges faced by frontline officers when attending reports of domestic abuse and how they make key risk level decisions in the context of those challenges. Paul was part of a Connect Centre research team that helped to create and evaluate a new early intervention service for families experiencing domestic abuse. It was the first project of its kind to use the risk level decision of frontline police officers as automatic referral to an intervention service. He adopted a whole family approach and provide practical and emotional support at the earliest opportunity to avoid escalation and ongoing abuse. It required close collaboration between the academic team, service provider, local services and the police. It was a challenging, but nonetheless valuable experience, which highlighted the difficulties of multi-disciplinary working and engaging families in service provision after police attendance.

He also worked on an evaluation of a jointly funded Premier League/Children in Need youth violence intervention pilot programme. Community Club Organisations (CCOs) associated with Premier League clubs working with vulnerable young people who were exposed to violence. Paul was involved in all aspects of the evaluation work including making and maintaining contact with CCOs travelling across the country, creating suitable measures and data collection materials, interviewing staff and young people, quantitative and qualitative analysis, report writing, and disseminating findings. The evaluation culminated in a 150-page report of findings and recommendations presented to CCOs, the Premier League and Children in Need.

Paul also contributed to a rapid evidence review commissioned by the NSPCC, entitled ‘Early Childhood and the Intergenerational Cycle of Domestic Violence’ which was published in November 2019, and also to a research review of Domestic Homicide Reviews.

In 2020, along with a colleague, Paul conducted an evaluation of the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service. Key findings from this research included victims' poor experiences of the police response and staff accounts of poor understanding of stalking within the Criminal Justice System. Stalking, like domestic abuse and youth violence, is a high impact area for policing research. The work culminated in a report of findings and recommendations, which was disseminated at a Connect Centre conference in the same year. As a result of this work, Paul co-authored on a journal article published in September 2020 on the implications of COVID-19 restrictions on stalking victims.