Domestic violence and abuse Conference looks to break the cycle
- Jamie Stevenson
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 19
Key research findings from the national evaluation of Project CARA, or Cautioning and Relationship Abuse, were presented at a conference held at Northumbria this September which explored ways to improve outcomes for families involved with the justice system.
The CARA scheme was developed in 2011 as a conditional caution offered by police to adults involved in first time offences of domestic violence and abuse of low or medium risk - as a way of intervening and preventing further offending.
Since 2021, researchers have been collaborating with academics from the University of Southampton, the University of Sheffield, University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, Newcastle University, and Leeds Beckett University on funded research with the Hampton Trust, Restorative Solutions and police forces from across the UK, to measure the impact of Project CARA.
The conference was co-convened by Northumbria University’s Dr Will McGovern and Rachel Wease, who advocates for women’s recovery. Research evidence outlining the benefits and considerations for police forces using the CARA conditional cautioning method, as well as victim perspectives, were presented to conference delegates before a series of breakout discussions and speakers focused on prevention, rehabilitation and recovery to address the cycle of reoffending.
Dame Vera Baird, former Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales and current chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, was among the conference speakers and told delegates of the importance of specific interventions such as CARA which involve long-term victim support.
The evaluation of Project CARA was funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) National Priority Research Consortium for Health and Care Inequalities and was led by NIHR ARC Wessex and Dr Sara Morgan from the University of Southampton.
Artists from More Than Minutes were on hand throughout the day to capture ideas and discussion topics through visual art with the title of the conference – Turning that ship around – featured front and centre in the illustrations.
