Understanding homicide against family carers: Expanding the focus
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding homicide against family carers: Expanding the focus from individual- to contextual-relational factors-A Phase II Analysis
IRAS ID
223746
Contact name
Andy Brown
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Offices
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Caregivers, who live with patients, are more likely than members of the general public to be the target of homicide committed by a relative with a mental health diagnosis, according to the 2016 20-year report of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness. This is particularly significant considering up to 90% of people with a mental health difficulty live with their families. Yet mental health domestic homicide remains an under-researched area. One of the major limitations of existing research in this area is a conceptually narrow focus on perpetrator, clinical and/or caregiver factors neglecting the relational-contextual and social-structural factors influencing violence. We developed a multi-level framework to address these conceptual gaps and analyse the clinical records of six individuals detained in Secure Services with a conviction of murder or manslaughter. This framework extends the current literature/theory by incorporating and synthesising social-structural, contextual, and relational variables in addition to the characteristics identified in the literature as risk factors. A professional response domain is also incorporated within the framework. We believe such multi-level scaffolding will enable a deeper understanding of the circumstances and processes under which violence occurs in addition to exposing related inequalities. A sub-analysis will include a critical discourse analysis of narrative text to expose the discursive mechanisms, including use of pathologising language, via which inequality and oppression are produced and reproduced. The objectives of the study are to identify risk and protective factors in these cases to inform prevention or reduction of violence against family caregivers by relatives with a serious mental illness diagnosis and future research directions. An overarching aim is to inform development of a safety carer guide for use in routine clinical practice.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0324
Date of REC Opinion
13 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion