Why is research on understanding violence, abuse and mental health important?
Preventing and responding to mental health difficulties requires an understanding of the impacts of violence and abuse on victims and survivors, the causal pathways between violence and abuse and mental health problems, and what forms effective support should take. People with mental health problems are particularly likely to have experienced childhood abuse, to have witnessed parental violence, and, as adults, to have experienced domestic and sexual violence. Pathways, mechanisms, and protective factors are unclear, and research must address these uncertainties.
Preventing and responding to mental health difficulties requires an understanding of the impacts of violence and abuse on victims and survivors, the causal pathways between violence and abuse and mental health problems, and what forms effective support should take. People with mental health problems are particularly likely to have experienced childhood abuse, to have witnessed parental violence, and, as adults, to have experienced domestic and sexual violence. Pathways, mechanisms, and protective factors are unclear, and research must address these uncertainties.
The challenges of understanding violence, abuse and mental health
More needs to be done to understand what effective support looks like from the perspective of survivors and how it can best be implemented. Victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and homicide often have a history of contact with mental health services. Mental disorders in older adults are also associated with being a victim of domestic abuse. There have been calls for mental health and other services to improve support for service users (including survivors of child and adulthood abuse) by implementing trauma-informed approaches, but the guidance on how best to do this is limited. Evidence on enabling access to criminal justice for domestic and sexual violence survivors with mental health problems, and reducing the current attrition rates, is also essential but currently lacking. More broadly, there is a need to identify how survivors define and understand justice. Primary and secondary prevention requires institutional reforms in health, culture, media, technology, and schools as well as strategic planning and specialised support to victims. This work must draw on multiple disciplines, and the involvement of professionals, practitioners, and policy makers is needed, as is the co-production of knowledge, engagement, and leadership of survivors.
More needs to be done to understand what effective support looks like from the perspective of survivors and how it can best be implemented. Victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and homicide often have a history of contact with mental health services. Mental disorders in older adults are also associated with being a victim of domestic abuse. There have been calls for mental health and other services to improve support for service users (including survivors of child and adulthood abuse) by implementing trauma-informed approaches, but the guidance on how best to do this is limited. Evidence on enabling access to criminal justice for domestic and sexual violence survivors with mental health problems, and reducing the current attrition rates, is also essential but currently lacking. More broadly, there is a need to identify how survivors define and understand justice. Primary and secondary prevention requires institutional reforms in health, culture, media, technology, and schools as well as strategic planning and specialised support to victims. This work must draw on multiple disciplines, and the involvement of professionals, practitioners, and policy makers is needed, as is the co-production of knowledge, engagement, and leadership of survivors.
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Watch VAMHN Grantholder Dr Alana Harris talk more about the VAMHN's work on Understanding Violence, Abuse and Mental Health. The VAMHN's Work on Understanding
In 2020 the VAMHN held it's second annual funding call on the theme of understanding. We received 44 high quality applications from across the UK, and we were pleased to award funding of up to £25k to four projects. You can read more about the findings of these projects below... |
Rupture and Repair: Towards a survivor-centred understanding of how rape harms
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To find out more about the background and key findings of this project, you can watch the video below featuring project lead Fiona Vera-Gray.
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You can also click on the report below to read the executive summary of this project.
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Fiona Vera-Gray, Assistant Professor at Durham University
Fiona Vera-Gray is an activist, researcher, and campaigner based at the London Metropolitan University working on violence against women and girls. She comes from a practice-based background, working for over a decade in the Rape Crisis movement before moving into academia. To find out more about Fiona click here.
Fiona Vera-Gray is an activist, researcher, and campaigner based at the London Metropolitan University working on violence against women and girls. She comes from a practice-based background, working for over a decade in the Rape Crisis movement before moving into academia. To find out more about Fiona click here.
Recommended reading
- Foley, Marian. "Professionalising the response to rape." In Working with Violence, pp. 39-54. Palgrave, London, (1994)
- Gangoli, Geetanjali, Lis Bates, and Marianne Hester. "What does justice mean to black and minority ethnic (BME) victims/survivors of gender-based violence?." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46, no. 15 (2020): 3119-3135
- Gavey, Nicola, and Johanna Schmidt. "“Trauma of rape” discourse: A double-edged template for everyday understandings of the impact of rape?." Violence Against Women 17, no. 4 (2011): 433-456
- Marecek, Jeanne. "Trauma talk in feminist clinical practice." New versions of victims: Feminists struggle with the concept (1999): 158-182
- Vera-Gray, F. "The Whole Place Self: reflecting on the original working practices of Rape Crisis." Journal of gender-based violence 4, no. 1 (2020): 59-72
- Wasco, Sharon M. "Conceptualizing the harm done by rape: Applications of trauma theory to experiences of sexual assault." Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 4, no. 4 (2003): 309-322
Victimization and domestic violence experienced by mental health services users during the COVID-19 lockdown period: understanding outcomes and their correlates
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To find out more about the background and key findings of this project, click here to read the executive summary.
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Giouliana Kadra-Scalzo, Post-doctoral Researcher at King’s College London
Robert Stewart, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Clinical Informatics at King’s College London
Louise Howard, Professor in Women’s Mental Health, King’s College London
Giouliana Kadra-Scalzo is a Lecturer on the MSc in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology based at King's College London. She is also a Coaching Psychologist. To find out more about Giouliana's work click here.
Robert Stewart, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Clinical Informatics at King’s College London
Louise Howard, Professor in Women’s Mental Health, King’s College London
Giouliana Kadra-Scalzo is a Lecturer on the MSc in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology based at King's College London. She is also a Coaching Psychologist. To find out more about Giouliana's work click here.
Understanding the impact of micro- and macro-level violence during adolescence on mental health at the transition to adulthood
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To find out more about the background and key findings of this project, click the report to read the executive summary.
Rachel Latham, Post-doctoral Researcher at King's College London Helen Fisher, Reader in Developmental Psychopathology, King's College London Rachel Latham is a Postdoctoral Research Associate from King's College London. Her research focuses on individuals’ risk and resilience following experiences of childhood victimisation. To find out more about Rachel's work click here. Blog: Bringing the voice of lived experience to mental health and violence research
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Understanding the interconnection between violence-abuse and mental ill-health in Black and Minoritised Women’s Journeys to Healing-Recovery
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To find out more about the background and key findings of this project, click the report to read the executive summary.
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Ravi Thiara, Associate Professor at University of Warwick
Sumanta Roy, Head of Research and Development at Imkaan
Ravi Thiara is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. She has undertaken extensive research into issues around gender, migration, ‘race’/ethnicity and violence against women. Alongside her research, she has been involved in policy and service development providing training, evaluation and support to a wide range of services. To find out more about Ravi click here.
Sumanta Roy, Head of Research and Development at Imkaan
Ravi Thiara is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. She has undertaken extensive research into issues around gender, migration, ‘race’/ethnicity and violence against women. Alongside her research, she has been involved in policy and service development providing training, evaluation and support to a wide range of services. To find out more about Ravi click here.