PhD Studentship: Domestic Violence in the Family Court System

Applications are invited for a fully-funded full-time PhD studentship exploring the issue of domestic violence within the family court system.

Domestic violence is an issue that was traditionally seen as a private ‘family’ matter and was therefore initially dealt with by the family courts (Dobash and Dobash 1979). It is now the case that domestic violence issues appear in a range of cases presented to the family courts, including; direct applications for non-molestation orders and occupation orders; applications for divorce or separation; applications for child contact or dispute over residency; and care proceedings issued by the local authority. Yet despite the frequency with which these cases appear in the family court there is relatively little research regarding how they are managed and resolved (Wilson, 2015, Macdonald, 2016). Furthermore, while the criminal courts have made attempts to create separate waiting areas for victims and introduced specialist support workers, the family courts often have no such facilities, raising the potential for increased violence and abuse.

This studentship will explore; the prevalence of domestic violence issues within family law cases, the extent to which domestic violence is addressed by judgements made in family law cases, and the practical risk and safety issues of hearing cases where there is on-going or historical domestic abuse.

For further details and for an application form visit: http://www.worcester.ac.uk/researchstudentships

For an informal discussion about the studentship please contact Professor Erica Bowen (email: [Email Address Removed])

For questions regarding the application process, please contact the Research School (email: [Email Address Removed] or tel: +44 1905 54 2182)