Decision-making in child protection and public protection around perpetrators of domestic abuse, in London and South-East England

我将分析儿童保护主席、MARAC(多机构风险评估会议)主席、社会工作者、缓刑官员和律师如何评估虐待父母的人构成的风险，以及他们对不同因素的重视程度。我将阅读地方当局文件中的关键决策文件，这些文件概述了虐待者的孩子是否仍处于危险之中、他们是否需要MARAC或缓刑继续监测以及是否需要与他们的孩子分开的决定背后的原因。我将检查决策者的思维过程，并分析内容，看看他们是如何做出决策的。我将对决策者进行个别采访：儿童保护主席、MARAC主席以及地方政府儿童服务部门的管理人员和律师。我还将在全国范围内就他们认为在决策过程中最重要的因素对类似的专业人士进行调查。我的数据收集过程相互启发：我对文件的分析为我的访谈结构提供了信息；而我的访谈将提供新的主题或动态来纳入。该项目汇集了当前关于暴力犯罪者是否仍然危险的辩论，以及再犯罪研究的理论发展。后者已经从狭隘地关注过去和现在观察到的行为，转向对暴力行为背后的内部机制进行更微妙的分析。这一理论框架适用于我的研究的两个层面：我将把它视为评估罪犯的一种方法，同时也探索支撑关键决策的复杂机制

I will analyse how child protection chairs, MARAC (multi-agency risk assessment conferences) chairs,social workers, probation officers and solicitors evaluate the risk posed by people who have abused apartner, and what emphasis they place on different factors.I will read key decision-making documents from local authority files, which outline the reasons behinddecisions about whether an abuser's children are still in danger, whether they require continuedmonitoring by MARAC or probation, and whether they need to be separated from their children. I willexamine the thought processes of the decision-makers, and analyse the content to see how they reachdecisions.I will conduct individual interviews with decision-makers: child protection chairs, MARAC chairs, andmanagers and lawyers from local authority children's services departments. I will also conduct anationwide survey of similar professionals about the factors they consider most significant in theirdecision-making.The strands of my data-gathering inform each other: my analysis of documents informs my interviewstructures; while my interviews will offer new themes or dynamics to incorporate.The project brings together current debates over whether a perpetrator of violence is still dangerous,with theoretical developments in the study of re-offending. The latter have moved from a narrow focuson past and current observed behaviour, to a more nuanced analysis of the internal mechanisms thatunderpin violent behaviour. This theoretical framework applies on two levels of my research: I willconsider it as an approach to assessing an offender, while also exploring the complex mechanismsunderpinning key decision-making