“Just raise that awareness, drop those seeds…”: Findings from qualitative interviews with Project CARA workshop attendees, partners and professionals across England and Wales.

• In Event: Evaluating community sanctions and measures

Abstract

Project CARA is an out of court disposal used across police force areas in England and Wales as an alternative to a simple caution or prosecution for lower risk, alleged first time Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) offenders. It comprises two awareness raising workshops, taking place 4-5 weeks apart, with supporting opportunities for self-disclosure, self-reflection, and promoting access to additional support. As part of a broader mixed method evaluation study which aimed to evaluate the impact of Project CARA following its wider rollout nationally, qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with workshop attendees (N=15), current/ex partners of workshop attendees (N=12) and a range of professionals including police, commissioners, VCSE workers and CARA facilitators (N=32) in order to explore perceptions and experiences of taking part in and/or delivery of CARA.

Findings from reflexive thematic analysis indicative high levels of support for the implementation and rollout of CARA across different geographical areas and across different participant groups including workshop attendees, police, facilitators and commissioners. In particular, facilitators identified the importance of early intervention and education. They saw their role as providing individuals and couples with the ‘building blocks’ or tangible tools through which to understand and manage their behaviour going forward. However, current/ex partners of workshop attendees highlighted that they were not always consulted or followed up across the entirety of the intervention, which they felt they would have benefitted from.

Further suggestions for improvement and change to Project CARA centred upon differential assessment of risk, training and implementation across police force areas, as well as the need to explore how the intervention is perceived and framed by voluntary sector organisations. Findings from this qualitative arm of the study will be triangulated with concurrently collected quantitative and health economics data, and utilised in ongoing intervention logic model development.

Authors

• Steph Scott, Newcastle University

• Hayley Alderson, Newcastle University

• Rachel Armitage, University of Huddersfield

• Ruth McGovern, Newcastle University

• William McGovern, Northumbria University

• Gary Pankhurst, Newcastle University

• Jessica Roy, Bristol University

• Sara Morgan, Southampton University