
Nicola Graham-KevanUniversity of Central Lancashire | UCLAN · School of Psychology
Nicola Graham-Kevan
PhD, MSc Forensic Psychology, BSc Psychology with Law
Researching:
- Violence & Coercion
- Adverse childhood experiences
- Child to parent abuse
- Intimate partner abuse
About
96
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 2017 - present
April 2011 - present
January 2003 - December 2012
Publications
Publications (96)
Background
Establishing and maintaining relationships and ways of connecting and being with others is an important component of health and wellbeing. Harnessing the relational within caring, supportive, educational, or carceral settings as a systems response has been referred to as relational practice. Practitioners, people with lived experience, a...
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of a novel offender personality disorder (OPD) higher education programme and the research evaluation results collected over a three-year period. Data from Phase 1 was collected from a face-to-face mode of delivery, and Phase 2 data collected from the same programme was from an online mode of...
Background
Establishing and maintaining relationships and ways of connecting and being with others is an important component of health and wellbeing. Harnessing the relational within caring, supportive, educational or carceral settings as a systems response has been referred to as relational practice. Practitioners, people with lived experience, ac...
Explore child (where the child is 16 yeras or older - i.e., a perpetrator under legislation in England and Wales) to caregiver abuse in Police Data
This project aimed to form distinct typologies of Child to Parent Domestic Abuse (CPDA) through a systematic exploration of published empirical literature and a transparent extract of police recorded domestic abuse crimes involving CPDA. This was achieved by using both a data driven formation of typologies, which were then enriched by further expla...
The most prevalent form of intimate partner abuse is not the physical type, but rather psychological abuse which can itself be differentiated into various subtypes. These include what is known as expressive abuse, consisting of verbal put-downs and various other behaviors intended to diminish the self-esteem of one's partner; and instrumental abuse...
The present study represents the third part of an exploration into the demographic characteristics, context, and outcomes of abuse and outcomes of service engagement for users of specialist Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) services in the United Kingdom (UK; parts I and II respectively). It delivers on a commitment made in those parts to provide a...
An Evaluation of a Pilot Multi-Professional Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Higher Education Programme
Purpose – Workforce development is crucial to the offender personality disorder (OPD) service, to provide contemporary, evidenced care and treatment. We provide an overview and the research evaluation results of a regional higher education pro...
Purpose
Workforce development is crucial to the offender personality disorder (OPD) service to provide contemporary, evidenced care and treatment. This study aims to provide an overview and the research evaluation results of a regional higher education programme delivered to a range of criminal justice workers used on the OPD pathway.
Design/metho...
The present study represents the second part of a two-part project that has sought to explore the demographic characteristics, assessment of abuse risks, and provision needs of service users of specialist Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) services in the United Kingdom (UK; see Hine, Bates, et al., in press for Part 1). The current study utilised a...
Despite longstanding investigation into the experiences and needs of female victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA), and a burgeoning literature on abused men, information on service engagement by both of these groups is limited, particularly in direct comparison. This is in part due to a lack of large-scale quantitative data on victim needs u...
Research suggests that there are differences between sexes in physical intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization that could lead to different injury patterns. In addition, research shows that men under-report their injuries yet may suffer grave consequences. It is, thus, vital to establish physical injury patterns in male IPV victims. A retrosp...
Abstract
This paper presents findings from a survey which explored exposure to sexual offence material (SOM) in Police personnel (N = 384). Factor analysis determined that two types of coping strategies were employed: ‘detachment’ and ‘avoidance’, with a further factor regarding ‘negative coping beliefs’. Two types of adverse impact analogous to Po...
This paper presents findings from a survey which explored exposure to sexual offence material (SOM) in Police personnel (N = 384). Factor analysis determined that two types of coping strategies were employed: ‘detachment’ and ‘avoidance’, with a further factor regarding ‘negative coping beliefs’. Two types of adverse impact analogous to Post-Trauma...
Domestic abuse is internationally recognised as a serious problem for public health (NICE, 2021) and criminal justice (Vigurs et al., 2016). Although research into Child-to-Parent Domestic Abuse (CPDA) is growing, the majority of reports and publications focus on younger children. Arguably, certain vulnerabilities in society are missed due to the d...
Theories of positive change following traumatic events, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG), posit that growth occurs in pre-determined domains. However, the domains in which growth occurs have largely been suggested from the results of studies which have looked at isolated traumatic events. The current paper has two aims: first, to explore whether...
Objectives: Cluster B personality disorder traits and positive psychological change, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG), are both possible outcomes following childhood trauma. However, existing research has not yet explored whether emotion regulation difficulties can simultaneously explain these negative and positive changes.
Method: A sample of...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. This report reflects the UK findings of two recent international surveys
investigating the experiences of male victims of domestic abuse from their
current or former partners which included coercive control.
2. The report provides an understanding of the types and levels of coercive
control experienced by male victims in the UK...
The capacity for post traumatic growth after Covid-19.
This report summarises key findings of my PhD research into Police experiences of exposure to sexual offence material, such as indecent images and perpetrator interviews. The findings are linked to existing trauma and coping theory and recommendations for policy change are offered. This report has been shared with the Police constabularies who were...
The 'what works' approach to evidence‐based practice has emphasized the need for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses to explore the effectiveness of correctional interventions. This chapter explores current approaches to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) perpetrator programmes and contrasts these with the empirical evidence in terms of treatment nee...
Aggression and violence within intimate relationships has been deemed a significant international problem that affects people across all demographic boundaries. This chapter aims to provide an evidence‐based guide to the risk assessment of an individual who has perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV), where the focus is on determining the perso...
This chapter will explore the received wisdom that men are the only perpetrators and women the only victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) often called ‘domestic violence’. The development of the gendered paradigm is explored, and research evidence is assessed which indicates a clear gender symmetry, and male victims of female perpetrated IPV....
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social, criminal and widespread problem. Research in the last decades has shown that this phenomenon has different protagonists and that both men and women can be victims and/or perpetrators in their intimate relationships. The present study aimed to capture the past year and lifetime prevalence rates of victimi...
This paper examines the experiences of Police staff in England who work with sexual offence material (SOM). Eleven officers completed a questionnaire then took part in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed in two stages: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to illuminate the ‘lived experience’ of participants, and establis...
This paper examines the experiences of police staff in England who work with sexual offence material (SOM). Eleven officers completed a questionnaire then took part in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed in two stages: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to illuminate the ‘lived experience’ of participants, and establis...
This paper explores the coping strategies of UK police staff who are exposed to sexual offence material (SOM). Eleven police staff completed a questionnaire then took part in semi-structured interviews. Themes were identified using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This paper explores the theme ‘Coping strategies for working directly...
Objective: Previous research suggests trauma characteristics can impact on posttraumatic growth (PTG). The current study considers whether previously identified predictors of PTG may produce different outcomes dependent on the characteristics of the trauma experienced.
Method: Active coping, avoidant coping, emotional coping, intrusive thoughts, s...
Objectives:
The Cognitive Growth and Stress (CGAS) model draws together cognitive processing factors previously untested into a single model. Intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination, present and future perceptions of control, and event centrality were assessed as predictors of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and post-traumatic stress (PTS).
Metho...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common phenomenon worldwide. However, there is a relative dearth of qualitative research exploring IPV in which men are the victims of their female partners. The present study used a qualitative approach to explore how Portuguese men experience IPV. Ten male victims (aged 35–75) who had sought help from domestic...
The aim of the current study was to conduct a review of current intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrator provision within the UK. The objective of the review was to explore the characteristics of intervention programs currently within the UK. Using a questionnaire based design we explored characteristics of current programs including program str...
Aim: To understand the positive qualities/characteristics/traits that have been identified within the literature as potential sport-specific strengths-based concepts: positive attributes that allow athletes to flourish and achieve. Methods: A Systematic Review including 79 papers. Results & Conclusion: Findings conceptualised into 13 overarching ps...
The current studies examined whether several risk and protective factors operate similarly for intimate partner violence (IPV) and same-sex aggression (SSA) in the same sample, and to assess whether they show similar associations for men and women. Study 1 (N = 345) tested perceived benefits and costs, and instrumental and expressive beliefs about...
In response to the growing body of research on the effectiveness of support for sexual violence victims, numerous reviews have been conducted to synthesise the treatment outcome literature. However, these reviews have also become unmanageable in number and vary in scope or quality, which would make it difficult to draw conclusions about the effecti...
Although research has shown aggression between siblings to occur at high rates, the measures used to gather the prevalence data often look solely at the behavioral acts of aggression rather than the functions and motivations behind them. This means that play fighting, a developmentally beneficial behavior for children (Flanders, Simard, Paquette, P...
Research elsewhere has suggested that the level of victim engagement with support services is generally low, and that many individuals are at risk of trauma symptomology and associated negative psychological outcomes as a result. The existing literature examining barriers to engagement with victim services is relatively small and largely quantitati...
Domestic violence is a social issue that is controversial and politically charged. Unlike many other academic and practitioner based areas there is a lack of discourse meaning current interventions are often not informed by a scientific evidence base. The aim of the current study was to review the current provision of domestic violence perpetrator...
Generalised models of positive change following adversity do not fully account for differences in adjustment among populations who experience posttraumatic growth (PTG). The contributions of event intentionality, frequency of the adversity types, age at serious event, spirituality/religiousness, active coping, PTSD symptoms and social support were...
Research suggests that engagement with support services after criminal victimisation is low. With this in mind, this study investigated predictors of engagement with Victim Support, in a sample of victims of violent crime. All violent crimes recorded by Lancashire Constabulary for two postcode areas (PR1 and PR2), who were referred to Victim Suppor...
The aim of the current study was to test two of Johnson’s (1995) assumptions regarding intimate partner violence (IPV); namely that there are sex differences in the type of physical aggression men and women use; and that controlling aggression is more problematic and requires more outside intervention than non-controlling aggression. These assumpti...
We studied intimate partner violence (IPV) within a framework of other violent and nonviolent offending, to explore whether the risk factors for offending were similar across the different offense categories, and also for men and women. A comprehensive measure of offending behavior was administered to 184 men and 171 women, together with measures o...
Purpose
– There is a body of evidence that suggests a range of psychosocial characteristics demarcate certain adults to be at an elevated risk for victimisation. The purpose of this paper is to examine consistency between one police force, and a corresponding Victim Support service based in England, in their assessment of level of risk faced by vic...
Sibling aggression is considered one of the most prevalent forms of aggression occurring within the family (Relva, Fernandes & Mota, 2013). The present study aimed to expand on the current literature in the field by looking at the experiences of sibling aggression. A qualitative perspective was taken, employing three specific research questions; (1...
Research has consistently found that partner violence, defined as physical abuse between married, cohabitating, or dating partners, is not the only type of abuse with long-term deleterious effects on victims. Male and female victims alike report that emotional abuse, along with controlling behaviors, are often as or more traumatic. Existing instrum...
This study explores the contribution that traumatic experiences and psychological post-traumatic stress symptoms make to predicting subsequent revictimisation in a sample of violent crime victims. In addition, the timing of first trauma exposure was also explored. Fifty-four adult victims (27 male and 27 female) of police recorded violent crime wer...
The present study evaluated the utility of the Chinese version of the Revised Controlling Behaviors Scale (C-CBS-R) as a measure of controlling behaviors in violent Chinese intimate relationships. Using a mixed-methods approach, in-depth, individual interviews were conducted with 200 Chinese women survivors to elicit qualitative data about their pe...
The aim of this study was to test predictions from the male control theory of intimate partner violence (IPV) and Johnson's [Johnson, M. P. (1995). Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 282–294] typology. A student sample (N = 1,104) reported on their use of physical aggression and controlling behavior, to partners and to same-sex non-intimates....
The purpose of this research was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of violent and non-violent offending, suitable for both male and female participants in general (non-forensic) samples. Potential items were selected from existing measures. A sample of 653 British university students completed all items, and their responses were analyzed...
Purpose. The ideologically based view of intimate partner violence has traditionally influenced policy and practice in modern western nations and dominated cross-national research and practice. This review considers the validity of the position statement of a British organization responsible for accrediting many male perpetrator programmes in the s...
Purpose. To reply to the comments made by Debbonaire and Todd (2012) in relation to our critique of Respect's Position Statement.
Method. We examined their reply in relation to our original article and to the wider research literature.
Results. We show that Debbonaire and Todd's reply is largely a series of assertions, for which little or no suppor...
Men's intersecting identities as fathers and as perpetrators of domestic violence are increasingly acknowledged in research and practice and children's social services are referring such men to perpetrator programmes. This paper draws on the evaluation of a newly established voluntary programme for male perpetrators of domestic violence in north‐ea...
A sample of 1442 women attending a Forensic Healthcare Service provided information on their own and their partners' use of controlling behaviors, partner violence, and sexual abuse, as well as their own experiences of childhood abuse. Using Johnson's typology, the relationships were categorized as Nonviolent, Intimate Terrorism, or Situational Cou...
This study assessed women's violent and nonviolent offending, using data from two online student samples (men and women: n = 344), reporting on either being a perpetrator and witness (women) or being a victim and witness (men). A comprehensive measure of general violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and nonviolent offending was collected. From...
This chapter discusses the academic and clinical (where available) literature on intimate partner violence (IPV) and stalking. It begins by defining terms and explaining the use of domestic violence terminology adopted in this chapter. The traditional approach to treating domestic violence between romantic partners will then be discussed in relatio...
This study aimed to investigate whether potentially infanticidal violence by men toward their pregnant partners’ is motivated
by jealousy, and hence paternity uncertainty. It was predicted that men who used potentially infanticidal violence (directing
their physical aggression towards their pregnant partners’ abdominal region) would have younger pa...
Theoretical perspectives underlying hypotheses about the nature and etiology of intimate partner violence are important as they inform professionals how they should best respond to reduce or eliminate this social problem. Therefore, it is crucial that practice led initiatives are driven by theory that is supported by good quality empirical evidence...
This study using a prison sample to explore Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), socially dominant inmate behaviour, index offence, age and length of time served in secure environments. A sample of 397 adult male prisoners completed the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist- Scaled (prisoner behaviour towards other inmates and staff) and...
Theoretical perspectives underlying hypotheses about the nature and etiology of intimate partner violence
are important as they inform professionals how they should best respond to reduce or eliminate this social
problem. Therefore, it is crucial that practice led initiatives are driven by theory that is supported by good
quality empirical evidence...
‘Stalker guilty of stabbing exgirlfriend to death in brutal attack’
(London Evening Standard, 2010)
‘Bridge game fights “led man to murder wife”’ (Reuters, 2010)
‘Horror as man kills himself after stabbing ex-partner outside Tesco store’ (Daily Record, 2010)
Attention-grabbing headlines like these that depict murderous scenes of male-perpetrated...
Background: Relationship conflict and abuse occurs in everyday life and often starts or escalates during pregnancy with devastating health and wellbeing consequences, the most severe being loss of life. This paper is the second in a series of two - the first paper described and discussed the first phase of the study, exploring the experiences of pa...
Various studies have found that viewing physical or relational aggression in the media can impact subsequent engagement in aggressive behavior. However, this has rarely been examined in the context of relationships. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the connection between viewing various types of aggression in the media and perpetra...
The aim of the current study was to examine the association between psychopathic features and various forms of relationship aggression in a non-clinical population. Additionally, exposure to media aggression was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between psychopathy and aggression. Participants consisted of a total of 337 individu...
The aim of this study was to assess both violent and nonviolent offending behavior in a single, mixed-sex population. The rationale for this is that the two types of offending are usually researched separately, despite evidence that they overlap. A comprehensive measure of general violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and nonviolent offending...
Purpose. The ideologically based view of intimate partner violence has traditionally influenced policy and practice in modern western nations and dominated cross-national research and practice. This review considers the validity of the position statement of a British organization responsible for accrediting many male perpetrator programmes in the s...
Background: Domestic violence is a global and pernicious problem affecting all spheres of society. It has traditionally been seen as a social problem, but is now recognised as a public health issue and reducing the incidence is a 'priority action one within Public Service Agreement 23′ (Home Office, 2007). It has been identified as a significant co...
This study investigated sex-specific predictors of violent and nonviolent mate guarding used by men (n=399) and women (n=951) in heterosexual relationships, using both self-reports and reports on partners. We found, contrary to some previous evolutionary assumptions, that men and women showed similar degrees of controlling behavior, and that this p...
This article provides an overview of research on women's partner violence as well as the literature that investigates the developmental pathway to women's aggressive behavior. While women are known to commit partner violence toward their male partners, the prevalence and motivations for such behavior is still debated. Evidence that finds gender sym...
Using data obtained from women’s shelter residents, male and female students, and male prisoners, this study investigated
the association between non-violent controlling behaviors, physical aggression, and violence towards a spouse (N = 264). It was predicted that only men and women involved in intimate terrorism (Johnson, Violence Against Women, 1...
The study aimed to classify non-harassers, minor, and severe harassers based on responses to measures of jealousy, dependency,
attachment, perpetration, and victimization of relationship aggression, and harassment victimization, in a convenience sample
of undergraduate students. Respondents (n = 177) replied on the following scales: Unwanted Pursui...
The European Union is in the early stages of developing policy and practice guidelines for dealing with domestic violence
offenders. There is a real danger, however, that that policy and practice is going to be shaped by political lobbyists rather
than academic literature and evidence-based practice. Feminist advocates control the curriculum of dom...
Author presents an introduction to this special issue dealing with male victims of violence by women. The author argues that the scholarly neglect of this topic has limited our overall understanding of violence in intimate relationships. A brief overview of the papers is presented.
This study investigated explanations of women's partner aggression in a sample of 358 women. Women completed measures of physical aggression, control, and fear. Three explanations of women's partner aggression were explored: (a) that its use is associated with fear, (b) that it is reciprocal, and (c) that it is coercive. Each explanation received p...
A critique is presented of the meta-analysis of testosterone and aggression by Book, Starzyk, and Quinsey [Aggression and Violent Behaviour 6 (2001) 579], and the results of a reanalysis of their data are reported. We identified the following problems with their analysis: Secondary, rather than primary, sources were used in the initial literature r...
Johnson (1995) suggested that individuals who use partner violence as a means of coercion are qualitatively different to individuals who do not use partner violence to coerce. From this premise he constructed a dyadic typology of violent relationships. Tests of Johnson’s typology have so far utilized sampling techniques that confound analysis of se...
This study sought to both replicate and considerably extend the findings of Johnson (1999) that there are two distinct subgroups of physical aggression within relationships: intimate terrorism and common couple violence. The present sample consisted of women residing at Women's Aid shelters and their partners (N=86), male and female students (N=208...
This study investigated the proposition by Johnson (1995) that there are distinct patterns of physical aggression within relationships, characterized as common couple violence and patriarchal terrorism. The present samples comprised students (N = 113), women from a domestic violence refuge (N = 44), and male prisoners (N = 108). Participants comple...
Three hypotheses concerning the association between instrumental (I) and expressive (E) beliefs about aggression and physical aggression were assessed among a sample comprising students (n=40), women from a domestic violence shelter (n=29), and male prisoners (n=46), all of whom had committed at least one act of physical aggression to a partner. Pa...