Self-Defined Research Title: How are different social groups who experience domestic abuse treated differently by the criminal justice system in England and Wales?

Since I have now completed my research project, I wanted to share some reflections I have had.

The Project:

My research project aimed to assess how the criminal justice system interacts with domestically abused women from different social groups – specifically BAME, LGBTQ+ and the disabled communities. It considered how these groups’ experiences differed as they interacted with different parts of the criminal justice system and attendant services - the police, courts, and other services (such as shelters and refuges) - alongside considering the differential nature of domestic abuse for each social group. My research project involved identifying and comparing current literature to gain an overview of the issue. This can thus be used as foundational knowledge for later reports considering inadequate treatment within the legal system.

The Process:

Before outlining the process undertaken, it is important to address the first issue I encountered with defining the social groups. When I began my research journey, the first issue that stood out was with using terms such as BAME and LGBTQ+. Despite literature often grouping these experiences, there is not one homogenous experience for each social group. As a result, before examining the varied experiences throughout the criminal justice system, the differential nature of the abuse had to be understood. The differential nature of abuse for BAME women surrounded how they are impacted both by institutional racism and a governmental policy of hostile immigration. As for LGBTQ+ women, their differential nature surrounded how their abuse is different from the basic model for understanding and intervening in heterosexual relationships. Disabled women’s experience of abuse is linked to their disability and is often perpetuated by their caregiver (whether this is an informal caregiver or a formal one).

As for the actual process, this was broken down into the following steps:

1. Reading a book on how to conduct a literature-based research project (because since this was self-defined and I had not undertaken a prior project like this I didn’t know where to start)
2. Find lots (and lots) of articles by searching the university library and google scholar.
3. Compile the articles in a spreadsheet so that references would be able to be easily made later.
4. Read each article’s abstract and narrow down the list of necessary articles to read.
5. Organise the articles into sections of the criminal justice system that are discussed for each social group.
6. Start reading and make notes on important aspects.
7. After all the articles had been read, work through them again and make notes on any possible biases.
8. Create a list of key themes for each social group.
9. Use your key themes list to create a set of conclusions  these are the results.
10. Write my reflective report and make my academic poster using my findings.

Out of all the steps involved, consolidating my conclusions was the most difficult part. This was largely due to how subjective literature is in how there are varied experiences within each larger social group. Since current literature does largely not consider variations within groups, I just had to make general conclusions. Alongside highlighting general areas to be improved, this illustrates the nationwide need for more research to be collected looking at specific groups within the broader social groups. Additionally, the organisation aspect was difficult; this is because I had so much information that without proper organisational tools in place, there was the potential for it to become overwhelming. Therefore, I had to make it a weekly habit to check that all my notes were in the correct folders and that I hadn’t missed any documents.

The Accomplishment:

Overall, I think my accomplishments can be broken down into both the research itself and my personal growth during the project. When considering the research itself, the accomplishment surrounds how I created conclusions from the previous research and am able to conceptualise the differences in experience. As for my skill development, conducting this project taught me how to complete an independent research project and has really improved my confidence in my ability to do so.

Looking back

If I could pass on any wisdom to the version of myself that hasn’t yet started their research, I would tell her to focus less on the big picture and the seemingly never-ending list of to-dos and focus on the specific task at hand. This is something I really developed during the process and felt my stress levels decline as the process continued since I got better at managing time and being organised. As I progressed, I found that to get a substantial amount completed each day, I needed structure. I had to treat it like a 9-5 and by placing these times on me I remained low-stress and could implement a healthy working balance. I knew that once I had completed my day's work, I was done and the rest of my day was mine to do as I chose.

Looking forward:

As I am writing this report after just completing my research, I have not yet disseminated my findings. After looking at possible conferences to disseminate to, it has become apparent that these are over for the year and the next one was in early 2024. Moreover, I will be keeping my eye out for opportunities to attend such conferences in the future.

In terms of my degree conducting this research has affirmed that I want my dissertation in third year (or fourth because I am hoping to study abroad) to be on a related topic. This will likely involve building on the research I have undertaken in this project and further developing my knowledge.