Introduction
This reflective account will discuss a service learning project undertaken by a group of 7 NTU Criminology students who worked alongside the Domestic Abuse services of Nottingham Community Housing Association. Butin (2010) described the concept of service learning as “the linkage of academic work with community-based engagement within a framework of respect, reciprocity, relevance and reflection” and aims at enriching the learning experience and strengthening communities. This is beneficial, both for the student and the community, as it expands the knowledge and skills of the student as well as raising awareness about the social issue at hand. This report will include an overview of Nottingham Community Housing Association, what they do and why there is a particular need for the service, as well as an outline of domestic abuse as a social issue. This will then lead on to how service learning links with wider criminological studies together with an evaluation and critical reflection of some of the key experiences within the project.
OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATION AND CONTEXT
Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) is a locally based housing group which have been developing new homes since 1973 to ensure they can provide care and support for some of the most vulnerable people in society. Although this project saw us directly working with services for survivors of domestic abuse, a service which has been meeting the needs of victims for the last 20 years, the organisation also helps those with mental health issues, learning disabilities, vulnerable young people and older persons.
They offer a range of crisis accommodation with the primary focus of the service being on safety and security. (NCHA, 2018) This project worked with one particular refuge, housing up to 13 women at one time and focusing its help primarily towards women of black, minority & ethnic origin (BME). Their aim is to empower women to rebuild their lives on their own terms by encouraging them to make their own decisions and deal with their own money, whilst at the same time ensuring their protection from their perpetrators. In the years between April 2013 and March 2016, 70% of the 454 domestic homicides recorded were female (ONS, 2017), showing a vital need for refuge houses and as stated by Ghose (2017) they are “not just a bed for the night, they are a lifeline for women and children fleeing abusive homes”.
This service learning project is solely focusing on domestic abuse which is seen to be one of the most complex social issues, affecting every aspect of society and experienced by 1.9 million adults aged 16 -59 in the year ending March 2017. (ONS, 2017) It is common for victims of such abuse to be blamed for the act committed against them, especially if they choose to remain or return to the relationship. However, studies have shown that it is far more dangerous to leave as “76% of women killed by their ex-partner or ex-spouse…were killed within the first year of separation”. (Women’s Aid, 2018) The hidden address of refuges around the country allows women to live the safe lives they have a right to have. Victim blaming has often been derived from the ideology of a ‘just world’ and the belief that “if the world is a just place, then there must be a justified reason that a person perpetrates an aggressive act, absolving the person of any personal responsibility” (Valor-Segura, 2011: 196) This is particularly applicable to domestic abuse as perpetrators repeatedly manipulate and persuade the victim that she is at fault for the behaviour against her and it is commonly reported that personnel within the criminal justice system view women as responsible for the abuse, either because “battered women are believed to “provoke” the perpetrator into violence or because they are believed to have the power to avoid criminal assault through accommodating the perpetrator’s demands”. (Hart, 1993: 627)
As part of the service learning project, the group were asked to focus on the narrative of victim blaming, especially towards those who choose to remain or return to an abusive relationship and so the research conducted concentrated on how attitudes towards victims came to exist and how education and the media can influence a person’s thoughts towards this particular subject.
WIDER STUDIES
As stated by Buroway (2005), the project of public criminology is “to make visible the invisible, to make the private public”. This is particularly relevant when discussing domestic abuse as a social issue as society only became fully aware of it when feminists began to continuously speak out about it and pushed for it to become criminalised. This, therefore, evolved from a private matter to public led criminology as it led to “developed legal definitions of private violence that better reflected women’s experiences, pursued the prosecution and punishment of violent men and helped women to empower themselves”. (Fineman, 2013:3) In particular, the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 emphasised domestic abuse as a crime as prior to this, arrests on common assault in a domestic abode were rare. This is also shown by the fact that there is more emphasis surrounding victim support for offences linked to domestic abuse compared to other offences which mainly focus on dealing with the offender.
The aim of the domestic abuse services is to provide support for women seeking refuge to help them feel empowered about themselves. This links in with how Carrabine et al (2000) describes a public criminology project as being “committed to empowerment and practical change as well as social justice and human rights.”
EVALUATION
To begin this project, it was recommended that the group assemble their initial fears about the task. An early concern voiced throughout the group regarded the sensitivity of the social issue. Lee (1993) stated that “sensitive research often also has potential effects on the personal life, and sometimes on the personal security, of the researcher” and so there was a feeling of unease that it was possible our research could trigger some underlying emotions and it was questioned how we would cope with this. We were also cautious of the fact that our knowledge of the topic was limited and it was important that we created socially sensitive questions, however this proved difficult as we had experienced no training on how to talk to the service users or what we were able to discuss. This was achieved by our organisation representative reviewing all the questions before they were distributed to be sure there would be no harm done. Similarly, we asked the service users to complete a pre-interview questionnaire as a form of consent to partake in the interviews to avoid anyone feeling pressured into it.
By following Peter Levin’s (2005) ‘Successful Teamwork’ strategies, the group rarely experienced conflict, which was thought to be mainly due to an effective communication medium being made from the start, through a social media group chat and regular face to face meetings. It was also found that the distribution of roles was constantly changing depending on the task being undertaken and there was no clear leader in the group. This was beneficial as it meant that every member was able to contribute a significant amount to the project and this was reflected well on the progress presentation and poster.
The main problem faced by the group was narrowing down the initial brief, ‘investigation of victim blaming’. The project was flexible and the group were able to make their own decisions about the specific area of research. However, with only being provided with a wide brief and little expertise on the topic, it was felt there was not enough guidance and support about what the service required. This led to feelings of frustration at being able to make the project measureable and achievable and something that would contribute to social change.
In response to this, it allowed the service users to be involved in the decision-making process as they provided their views in what they would like to see researched. Elden and Chisholm (1993) define participatory action research as being where a “research process is carried out in collaboration with those who experience the problem” and in this case the service users were passionate that we research something that raises awareness of domestic abuse in education. This was valuable for us as a group, as by getting a perspective from those who had experienced domestic abuse first hand, it was felt that the outcome of our project would be more meaningful for them.
To be able to sufficiently evaluate the service learning project, it is important to compare it to the original definition offered by Bringle and Hatcher (1999) to measure if we had accomplished what we had set out to do. We participated in an “organised service activity” by conducting a survey completed by the general population as well as interviews with the service users which helped raise awareness about the “identified community needs” as the information gathered enabled us to recognise that more education about the types of abuse and the different laws was necessary to tackle the problem.
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Mezirow (1990: 1) defined critical reflection as involving “a critique of the presuppositions on which our beliefs have been built”. It is, therefore, key that a critical reflection of this service learning project is shown, as this is the development of “turning experience into learning” (Bunning, 1992: 7)
In questioning how I compare to the other members of the group, I have looked at how my own values and attitudes have shaped my service learning experience. I thought this project to be personally significant, as I have a great interest about this particular social issue, not just because I am female, but also because I feel strongly about the ways in which the issue is portrayed and sometimes ignored as a problem.
This made it easier to connect with the service users, especially during our coffee morning, through common values and interests creating a ‘shared identity’. (Gilchrist, 2010) This was similar to my other group members who also shared common ideologies and views which could partially explain why motivation levels were continuously positive as each member felt strongly about the issue.
When looking at the social identity wheel (Service Learning Toolkit, 2015), I have recognised that there is more to communities and identities than first thought and this has led to a change in my pre-assumptions about the different communities that are affected by domestic abuse and who uses the refuges.
The invisible identities such as socio-economic status and education challenged my initial assumption that domestic abuse happens most to those in lower class communities and through further literature reading and speaking with people at NCHA, I now recognise that it affects all corners of society. However, it was concerning to see that there is a lack of research surrounding survivors of domestic abuse from more affluent marriages. Weitzan (2016) stated that “higher income people hide behind what I call a veil of silence” as those with partners who had influence and notoriety in the community felt that “disclosing the abuse to anyone felt shameful and embarrassing”. I link this with my changed understanding and feeling towards those who choose to remain in an abusive relationship and recognise there are multiple implications when trying to leave as it has been shown that “women fail to leave their abusive partners because they have no money and nowhere to go” (Herbert, 1991: 312) which is especially apparent in ‘upper middle class’ marriages as “wealthy abusers often exploit their wife’s fear of poverty”. (domesticabuse.org)
After considering Morton’s paradigm of service, showing charity, project and social change models as being placed on a continuum of service, a mutual feeling of frustration was often discussed by the group at being able to succeed in creating a project that would contribute to society on a larger scale. It was felt that where we had strived towards providing a social change service, our service learning contained attributes more reflecting a project as it focuses on “defining problems and their solutions”. (Morton: 1995) In this instance, finding that there needed to be more education on the issue within society. It also only really helped a local organisation rather than creating a much bigger change. This is mostly likely due to a lack of expertise and time-scale to complete the project.
Throughout this experience, it is clear to see the passion, from organisations such as NCHA, in attempting to lead attitudes of domestic abuse away from the old law. This was stated by Zaher () as saying that “by marriage the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being and legal existence of a woman is suspended during the marriage”. This has made me recognise the power of collective society in tackling the gendered crime, which is “deeply rooted in the societal inequality between women and men.” (Women’s Aid, 2018) In particular, it has shown the rise of feminism to create this societal change through increased campaigning by charities such as Women’s Aid and National Domestic Abuse Helpline. Furthermore, this service learning project has allowed me to recognise the increased triumphs of feminist movements as from “women’s liberation came the development of the refuge movement and the establishment of services to assist battered women and their children”. (Welsh, 2008: 227)