The PEACH Study: Preventing Domestic Abuse for Children and

Young People – the UK Landscape

Nicky Stanley, Jane Ellis, Nicola Farrelly, Soo Downe, Sue Bailey and

Sandra Hollinghurst

To discover what was known about interventions for children and young people aimed at preventing domestic abuse

To establish what worked for whom in what settings

To produce advice on what form future research might take in England and Wales.

PEACH study - Aims

Mixed knowledge review informed by realist principles:

Systematic review of existing peer reviewed and UK grey literature

Online mapping survey with a sample of 18 local authorities across 4 nations

Consultation with key stakeholders: nine expert group meetings (media, education, young people) and 16 individual interviews in UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada & US

PEACH study - Methods

Online survey To organisations and practitioners in 18 local

authority areas in 4 UK countries LAs selected to represent varying levels of social

deprivation and incidence of domestic abuse. Distribution assisted by PSHE Association and

Women’s Aid 232 responses 98 reported programmes

Mapping survey

Yes, knew of recent/current local programmes/campaigns – 59%

No, didn’t know of any local programmes/campaigns – 41%

Respondents’ awareness of local programmes/campaigns aiming to prevent domestic abuse

Number of relevant

programmes reported by type

School 88

Media 1

Community 4

School and Community

1

School/Media/Community

4

Total 98

Programmes reported

Primary – 18.5%

Secondary – 65.5%

Primary/secondary – 14%

Secondary/FE – 2%

Educational Settings

Lack of sustainability – over half programmes ran for less than 2 yrs

Length of programmes varied – lack of rationale for length and dose

Funding short-term & unpredictable Main funders – community safety,

independent sector, little investment from health.

Patchy Picture

Sources of Funding

LA youth service

NHS

LA education service

LA children's social care

Police

Schools

Local domestic violence organisation

Trust/foundation/charity/individual/Other voluntary sector organisation

I don't know

Community safety partnership

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0

1.0%

2.0%

3.1%

3.1%

3.1%

6.1%

7.1%

8.2%

10.2%

12.2%

Percentage

Length and structure of programmes varied Range of common methods: didactic

approaches, group discussion, role-play, quizzes, DVDs

Young people and experts consulted argued for the value of drama/theatre and narrative

Authenticity achieved through material that delivered emotional charge, which was meaningful to young people and made ‘it real’.

Authenticity enhanced when interventions delivered by those with relevant expertise or experience.

Mechanisms and Processes

‘We had a fire fighter come in school once and talk to us about fire safety …and he was talking and suddenly…he's seen so many horrific things that he started like properly crying and everything in front of us and he was very embarrassed about it …and, yeah, that changed my opinion …seeing real emotion.’ (YP Consultation Group 2)

‘It’s like in front of you and then you realise, actually, it doesn’t happen miles away, you know, it happens here. And it’s so close to home and it happens to people that you might know…And so I think drama kind of conveys that a bit more.’(YP Consultation Group 3)

Authenticity

Both celebrities who front media campaigns and those delivering schools work need to be perceived as genuine:

‘Because you can tell when someone's like bluffing it… especially like teachers, especially when they've been given briefs that they don't know anything about and they've just been asked to do a presentation, …so obviously whoever's doing it got to have the knowledge… makes more impact.’

(YPs’ Consultation Group)

Authenticity and Expertise

Figure 5 Who delivers programmes

2%

2%

6.1%

6.1%

6.1%

9.25

9.2%

10.2%

41.8%

55%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

I don't know

Lecturers

Sexual health workers

Staff from voluntary children's organisations

Young people

Staff from other voluntary organisations

Police officers

Youth workers

Staff from domestic violence organisation

School staff

Percentage

External staff offer knowledge and expertise on domestic abuse

But less likely to have an impact on school culture or provide continuity

Teachers possess expertise in work with, and have on-going relationships with children

Some school staff resist teaching on domestic abuse as they lack confidence Need for training and collaboration in delivery – 45% of programmes delivered by multi-agency teams

Who Should Deliver?

Lack of committed funding for interventions has contributed to short-termism.

Making PSHE and teaching on healthy relationships compulsory in the English curriculum would address patchy landscape.

Teachers require training and support to deliver these programmes – required at the qualifying and post-qualifying levels.

Interventions for younger, primary school age children require robust evaluation

Children’s and young people’s perceptions and experiences should be incorporated into evaluations

Conclusions

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Programme.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Public Health Research Programme, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health.

PEACH project report coming soon…