Building Better Relationships: Developing critically reflective practice when working preventively with domestic violence and abuse

Background Whilst the phenomenon of domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, the individual and social impact, is globally well documented, practice in this area is not. Responses are often confusing and contradictory, arising from an ill-defined area of professional practice that has a negative impact on those involved, including victims and practitioners who work with them. Aim The practice/research approach adopted for the study aims to develop professional knowledge and professional/interprofessional practice, through the development of critically reflective domestic abuse prevention practice. Method A qualitative study using Critical Participatory Action Research, limited to recruiting three practice/research sites, which included a range of practitioner/researchers from health, social care, and voluntary sector organisations. Data were analysed using a phronetic iterative approach (Tracy, 2020). Findings are specific to each research site, generated in the context of practice application. Findings Findings from the research indicate that providing a framework for critically reflective practice, enhances and develops critically reflective domestic abuse prevention practice. This is manifest in changes to i) language, ii) actions, and iii) relationships. Critically reflective practice in this field is enabled by practice architectures (Kemmis et al., 2014), arrangements that support its development and the actions produced, comprised of: courage, compassion, containment, responsibility, risk management, adaptability, awareness and reflexivity, facilitation, tools (for critical reflection) and time. The development of critically reflective domestic abuse prevention practice expanded space for action, increased wellbeing and created transformational relationships in the contextualised locations of the research sites. Conclusion The research has made a significant contribution to practice development, and learning, in the field of domestic abuse prevention, increasing knowledge of: 1) domestic abuse prevention work: its undervalued and hidden nature 2) places, in which critically reflective practice in this field take place, including the significance of compassion and containment 3) learning in relation to domestic abuse prevention/prevention work, and the importance of practice-based and praxis-focused education in this fiel