BU Research Blog

University of Bristol and University of Bournemouth ‘Other side of the story: perpetrators in change’ Event 6 June. 

In April we shared that we would be holding training and networking events to share findings from an ongoing research project exploring the dynamics of Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) perpetration. These were designed to provide an opportunity for professionals from health, social work, the charity sector and criminal justice agencies to explore and discuss the barriers and challenges working with perpetrators of DVA as well as include training sessions on key elements of perpetrator work. 

More than 50 professionals working in Domestic Abuse services across the health, social work, charity and criminal justice sectors attended the in-person event held at Bournemouth Executive Business Centre on the 6th June.  The Regional Practice Lead of RESPECT Make a Change, the national umbrella body who oversees quality and best practice for perpetrator services across the UK, Joanna Szuryn was our special guest in this event. We were also joined by a further 30 professionals for an Online Event run on the 7th June for those who could not join us in-person. 

As well as receiving training on key elements of this work, participants were also given access to a range of free online resources following the event to provide continued support for their work.  

The team have received some very positive feedback from attendees about the event outlining how they plan to address some of the challenges raised in practice: 

‘I think that what we discussed is a huge ‘gap’ in the system, and one that definitely needs addressing.’ 

‘I thought the event was excellent, well delivered, very professional and thought provoking. I thought each and every speaker was amazing, informative, knowledgeable, and open minded. It was great to be able to be in a room of other link minded professionals, all who want ultimately to reduce domestic abuse and sexual violence, to prevent it where possible, and to help bring about change, these were what we all had in common’. 

Many of the participants shared how valuable this training and networking event had been and how they would like to see more such events.  

The ultimate aim of the ‘Other Side of the Story: Perpetrators in Change’ (OSSPC) project is a 2.5 year project which has aimed to prevent further violence and change violent behavioural patterns by increasing the capacity of professionals to support DVA perpetrators to change. The OSSPC project is a European Commission funded project between partners in the UK, Romania, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy. The UK team is a partnership between Dr Jade Levell at the University of Bristol, and Dr Jane Healy, Dr Orlanda Harvey, Dr Terri Cole, Professor Colin Pritchard at Bournemouth University. Our local front-line partner is The Hampton Trust, who deliver perpetrator interventions across Hampshire and Dorset. The national and international reports from the first two phases of the project can be found here. 

The research project is a collaboration between partner organisations in the UK, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Romania for more information see here:   

OSSPC Europe Official page “The Other Side of the Story: Perpetrators in Change” (OOSPC) | OSSPC.EU