Exploring Domestic Homicide Reviews as a mechanism for change

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Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) were introduced in England and Wales in 2011. DHRs tell the story of a homicide, describing the circumstances prior to someone's death. By identifying learning, they aim to improve prevention and intervention strategies and reduce the likelihood of future homicides. By 2018, over 500 DHRs had been completed. To date, scholarly interest has focused on the aggregation and secondary analysis of DHR findings. There has been limited research into the operation of, and knowledge production by, DHRs. This raises a number of questions. First and foremost, the victim is at the heart of the story told in a DHR but is necessarily silent. How do DHRs build a picture of that person, including their 'new' identity as the victim of homicide? How is a victim's story told, particularly if there are contested accounts of what happened, and whose voice is heard in the telling? Secondly, although the state introduced DHRs as a process, it has a mixed record towards domestic violence and abuse. While activists and scholars fought to move domestic violence and abuse from the 'private' to 'public' sphere, many have also recognised that the state could also pose a risk. For example, some have argued that the state itself is abusive, with victims being revictimized by the institutions that should support them, while others have framed state response as examples of ways to manage the risk of crime or to apply management techniques to the governance of people. Taken together, these issues can be reduced to two paradoxes in the context of a DHR. A DHR tells a victim's story, but the victim may be marginalised. Meanwhile DHRs are a vehicle by which the state seeks to 'learn lessons', yet its ability to do so is mediated by its complex and often problematic response to domestic violence and abuse. This study considers the 'view from the inside' of a DHR. Firstly, I will examine published DHRs as texts, tracing the discourse about domestic violence and abuse within them, including narratives about victims and the role of the state. Secondly, I will use a web-based survey and semi-structured interviews to explore the experience and understanding of DHR participants. Using descriptive analytical techniques and discourse analysis, my mixed methodology will enable an examination of how homicides are understood, explained, and what learning is identified as a result. I will situate my analysis at different levels of social life, ensuring it reflects the individual, relational, community and wider systemic positions that victims can occupy. This study will have a significant impact. Conceptually, it will address an under-theorised area and critically engage with issues of knowledge generation. Instrumentally, the findings will inform the 'doing' of DHRs, assisting policymakers in their use and application of DHR recommendations in decision making. Findings will also directly benefit practitioners, enhancing their training and skills to undertake DHRs. As a whole, this study will tackle the question of whether DHRs are an effective mechanism for policy, practice and social change. Its findings will consequently have a direct impact on the response to domestic violence and abuse.