Exploring the link between 'intimate' terrorism and mass public violence

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Feminist scholars have long posited that the existence of a public/private divide functions todepoliticise male violence against women and place it beyond the realm of stateintervention. The fact that public and private violence are conceptualised so differently alsofunctions to obscure any relationship that may exist between them. However, persuasiveanecdotal evidence suggests that the perpetration of domestic abuse and public terrorattacks may in fact be linked: Out of seven 2017 UK attackers, for instance, four were knownto have experienced or perpetrated domestic abuse; A brief survey of other attacks -including Nice, the Boston Marathon, Pulse Nightclub, Lindt Café and Charlie Hebdo -indicates a pattern. Despite this evidence, no systematic research exists to investigate apotential link between such acts of mass public violence and domestic abuse. Instead, muchanalysis rests on the heavily racialised 'terrorism' paradigm, which obscures similaritiesbetween 'terroristic' behaviours and myriad other forms of violence that are commonplacewithin patriarchal structures. In obscuring these similarities, such analysis cannot accountfor how 'public' and 'private' violence intersect. Drawing on the approach of narrativecriminologists such as Lois Presser, Shadd Maruna and Sveinung Sandberg, this research willaddress that gap in analysis. Using in-depth case studies and subject-led interviews, it willinvestigate what the relationship between 'private' and 'public' violence might be from theperspective of those who perpetrate both by exploring the violent histories of so-called'Islamist' offenders, far-right offenders and those who have committed gang violence. Indoing so, it will seek to understand the worldviews behind these perpetrators' criminogenicdecisions and their own understanding of the escalation of their violence into the publicsphere. By better understanding perpetrators' perspectives, we can potentially learn cruciallessons in how to prevent further violence, with significant implications for questions ofnational security and for the urgency of concerted action to address domestic abuse.