WIREDGOV

This report presents findings from a qualitative research study which explored peoples’ experiences of repeat, interpersonal violence. The research involved in-depth interviews with people who have lived experience of repeat violence and community stakeholders who support them.

Executive summary

Interpersonal repeat violent victimisation

The definition and conceptualisation of interpersonal repeat violent victimisation (RVV) is contested. Interpersonal violence refers to violence between individuals, often subdivided into community violence and violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse. These two forms of interpersonal violence are often studied separately, using divergent theoretical and methodological approaches (Batchelor et al. 2019). Mainstream research on RVV is largely quantitative in orientation, counting recurrent incidences of the same type of violent offence against the same target and identifying risk factors that make some people more prone to victimisation than others. Feminist research on men's violence against women and girls more often draws on qualitative methods to explore experiences of overlapping and intersecting forms of violence, conceptualising repeat physical violence as part of a process of coercive control located within a context of gendered inequality and norms.

Building on these insights, the current research adopts a qualitative approach to unpack patterns of RVV evident in official statistics on non-sexual violence in Scotland. Unlike survey research, which asks respondents to self-report the number of incidents they have experienced over a specified period, typically the previous 12 months, the present study acknowledges the impact of repeat violence and associated trauma on memory, imposing no time limit on participants' experiences. As a result, whilst we invited participants to reflect on recent experiences of physical violence, they also often related experiences of other forms of violence, experienced across the life course.

Background

Within the official crime groupings in Scotland, interpersonal violence is categorised under 'non-sexual crimes of violence', which includes murder and culpable homicide, assault, robbery, crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse Act 2018, threats and extortion, and stalking. Non-sexual violence in Scotland has fallen significantly since 2008/09 but remained broadly stable over the last decade (Scottish Government 2023a). The most recent data from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (Scottish Government 2021) showed that in 2019/20 the likelihood of experiencing violent crime (including assault and robbery) was highest for men, those living in deprived areas, and those living in urban locations. Victims of repeated incidences (i.e., those experiencing two or more violent crimes) accounted for two-thirds (65%) of the violent crime experienced in 2019/20. Experiences of partner abuse (including psychological and physical abuse) were highest amongst women, those aged 16 to 24 years, and those living in deprived areas. In 2018/20 three in ten respondents (31%) who experienced partner abuse within the 12 months prior to interview had experienced more than one incident; around two-thirds (67%) also experienced at least one incident prior to this period.

In response to these patterns, the Scottish Government commissioned qualitative research to better understand repeat violent victimisation, informed by the social-ecological model (Powell et al. 1999) adopted by public health approaches to violence prevention, which regards interpersonal violence as the outcome of the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. A public health approach to violence prevention focuses on preventing violence by addressing underlying causes at each of these levels.

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