91É«ÇéƬ
In 2022, the Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Violence Perpetration: Profiling, Prediction and Prevention received approximately $2.5 million over five years from the National Health and Medical Research Council to investigate the perpetration of violence. (Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence grant APP2015587)
Professor Tony Butler at the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine & Health, 91É«ÇéƬ is leading a team of Australian and international researchers comprised of nine Chief Investigators and 10 Associate Investigators.ÌýThe main objective of the CRE is to use a public health approach to tackle violence, including domestic violence by generating knowledge from novel perspectives, and examining preventable and modifiable risk factors.
Eleven projects can be split into three themes: profiling, prediction and prevention. These include the phenomenology of violence, cognitive impairment in older age violent offenders, the lived experience of coercive control perpetrators, establishing a national data collection based on text mining police domestic violence data, text mining child protection narratives, psychotropic medication use and its association with violent offending, validating the Oxford Risk of Recidivism Tool (OxRec), pathways from child neglect to violent offending, the use of violence by young Aboriginal men, understanding the link between head injury and impulsivity, as well as using brain imaging to reduce violence.
Researchers will use quantitative and qualitative approaches including population-based linked data to study associations between violence and individual factors such as early life experiences, cognition and medication use, to better understand violence perpetration and identify more effective interventions and intervention points.
Our people
CRE Lead
Chief Investigators
Ìý– 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
Ìý– Hunter New England Local Health District, and Newcastle University
Ìý– Swinburne University of Technology
Ìý– University of South Australia
Prof Thomas DensonÌý– 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
Ìý– Swinburne University of Technology
Ìý– 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
Ìý– 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
Dr Mandy Wilson
A/Prof Jocelyn JonesÌý– Edith Cowan University
Associate Investigators
- – National University of Singapore
- A/Prof Lorraine Sheridan
- – University of Oxford
- – Newcastle University
- – 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
- – 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
- Prof David Greenberg – 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
- – 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
Aims
The main aim of the CRE is to improve health outcomes and enhance community safety by reducing violence.Ìý
We seek to achieve this by:Ìý
- Better understanding the use of violence in key subpopulations that may have unique experiences and reasons for violence that remain poorly understood (e.g., Aboriginal men, impulsive-violent men, users of non-physical ‘coercive control’ and older people).Ìý
- Increasing our ability to predict violent behaviour via risk assessment tools and observing factors that may precipitate violence (neurological, medication use and the physical environment).Ìý
- Identifying early points for intervention and taking into consideration early life trauma exposures. Evidence points to factors such as adverse neurodevelopment, mental health and neurological conditions, cognition, and medication use as warranting particular attention in relation to violence.
Projects
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Project description:ÌýThis is a qualitative study led byÌýexamining the phenomenological experience of committing violence. Thirty in-depth, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with criminal justice involved men who had committed crimes involving violence. These interviews focused on somatic and psychological experience in a distinct time period in violence perpetration, the moments just before, during and just after committing violence. As it was difficult for some of the participants to access their subjective experience, arts-based research was added. This included a photovoice project with 5 participants, and an arts-based research workshop with ten people with lived experiences of incarceration.
Knowledge gap:ÌýUnderstanding the phenomenological experience of committing violenceÌýto inform criminal justice theory and practice.ÌýThe project’s significance also lies in its foregrounding of justice involved individuals’ subjective experience and expression of violence in their own words. This is opposed to the more common focus on single-measure evaluative examinations of the outcomes and management of violence. Lastly, the project’s integration of qualitative, offender- and arts-based research and existential phenomenology is novel in criminal justice and criminology research.
Status:ÌýData collection and analysis completed; photovoice and arts-based research workshop completed.
Findings:ÌýProject findings are framed by the central theme of the fracturing of the core self through early trauma and abuse. The five subthemes contained in this theme are: 1. Broken Boundaries and the loss of trust, 2. Implications of first contact with the Criminal legal system, 3. Repression and building of internal pressure, 4. Cycles and layers of criminal legal system involvement, abuse, and addiction, resulting in the creation of a new persona, 5. The mending and return to the cores self. This project’s exploration of internal fracturing focuses on the development of a phenomenology of violence. In this articulation of subjectivities of violence, characterised by an intense period of disassociation, Dr Morgan has drawn on three sources: the words and art works of criminal justice involved participants, work of the psychiatrist and phenomenologist Thomas Fuchs, and discussions with a forensic psychiatrist colleague regarding the impacts of trauma on the autonomic nervous system. Theoretical explication focuses on what Fuchs terms the ‘background phenomena’ or the subjective, pre-reflexive and implicit forms of participants’ awareness. The project’s findings are grounded in the context of participants lives, that is the cumulative disadvantage they suffered, including the poverty and abuse they experienced in childhood. This innovative research project offers insights into violence perpetration that can be instrumentalised for human-centered criminal justice theory and practice.
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Outputs:Ìý
- In-person exhibition at the School of Population Health, 91É«ÇéƬ, June 2024.Ìý
- ÌýA 12-minute video about experiences of incarceration available at this .Ìý
- Three knowledge translation events featuring these outputs have taken place as follows:Ìýan event at the Hamilton Uniting Church in Newcastle, March 15, 2025, an online event with the School of Population Health, March 5, 2025, and an event with the Centre for Criminology, Law and Justice, 91É«ÇéƬ, the Justice Reform Initiative, and the Australian Institute of Human Rights, 91É«ÇéƬ, May 20, 2025.
- A virtual exhibition, , is now live.
- Photovoice: Picturing Lived Experience in Criminal Legal System Involvement, available at thisÌý.
Media
Experiences of incarceration (video)
Photovoice (video)
Picturing Lived Experience in Criminal Legal System InvolvementDrawing Free virtual exhibition
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Project description:ÌýThis is a mixed-methods study led by A/Prof Jones looking to explore the reasons young Aboriginal men commit family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV). In addition, this study aims to identify factors which Aboriginal young men believe expose them to risks of causing harm, as well as understand barriers and/or enablers to seeking assistance or support. Finally, this study aims to obtain the views of young Aboriginal men on what works/ does not work in currently available programs for men who perpetrate FDSV.
Knowledge gap:Ìýunderstanding the context of Aboriginal men’s violent behaviours to inform culturally-appropriate behaviour change and healing programs.
Status:Ìýseeking ethical approval.
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Project description:ÌýThis is a qualitative study led by Dr Sheridan and Dr Wilson looking to uncover the inner world of those who coercively control their partners through stalking and non-fatal strangulation (NFS). The study will be focused on men as perpetrators.
Knowledge gap:Ìýunderstanding what drives perpetrators to offend to inform targeted and individualised, rather than generalised, treatment for men who use coercive methods to control their partners.Ìý
Status:Ìýin preliminary discussions.
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Project description:ÌýSystematic identification of cognitive impairment is not currently undertaken within the court system. This study ledÌýÌýandÌýÌýseeks to clarify the extent and nature of clinically and legally significant cognitive impairment undetected in older violent individuals who come before the courts.Ìý
Knowledge gap:Ìýacquire data regarding older violent offenders and cognitive impairment to better understand treatment opportunities and the use of diversionary options under the NSW Mental Health Act.
Status:ÌýinÌýpreliminary discussions.
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Project description:ÌýThe police are normally the first point of contact for individuals involved in domestic violence (DV) events. During these, police officers record set information such as name, sex, ethnicity, age, type of offence, relationship between victim and perpetrator, etc. In addition, a free text narrative that describes the events is also written detailing information about the cause of the event, mental health status of perpetrator and victim, injuries, if weapons were used as well as threats of future violence. The information gathered in the free text is not currently being used for monitoring or statistical purposes. This study led byÌýÌýaims to harness these police narratives and create a national DV database.
Knowledge gap:Ìýcreate a comprehensive national DV database to support better targeted DV prevention activities.
Status:Ìýfinalising ethics approval.
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Project description:ÌýChild protection reports exist as high-level structured data that include demographic factors (e.g., child age, sex, postcode) as well as unstructured (i.e., textual) narratives which describe in detail the abuse, the type of injuries children might sustain, threats of further violence or more nuanced abusive behaviours (e.g., various forms of coercive control). Although the child protection narratives are a rich source of information, due to their unstructured and voluminous nature, they remain untapped for surveillance purposes. This project led byÌýÌýandÌýÌýaims to apply an existing text mining pipeline to a large sample of child protection narratives held by the South Australian Department for Child Protection.
Knowledge gap:ÌýEmploying text mining on the child protection narratives will provide a population-based sample rich in information that will assist researchers in this area to fill in gaps and conduct exploratory research from thousands of cases simultaneously, as well as observe potentially new insights in both victim and perpetrator behaviour. Armed with key information that is backed from a large-scale sample, this process has the potential to shape current policy and practice and highlight potential early intervention and prevention points to improve outcomes for children and young people exposed to violence and to identify modifiable risk factors for perpetrating violence (e.g., alcohol and other drug use, mental health concerns).
Status:Ìýethics approval in place; in discussion with the South Australian Department for Child Protection regarding data access and implementation of text mining pipeline.Ìý
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Project description:ÌýPsychosis is a recognised risk factor for violent offendingÌýand adherence to psychiatric treatment, including psychotropic medication (i.e., antipsychotics, psychostimulants, drugs of addictive disorders) may reduce the risk of violent reoffending. However, little is known of the differential effects of different classes of drugs on violent reoffending, or their interactions with non-pharmacological mental health treatments. This study led by Ìýwill examine the association between violent offending, psychotropic medication use (i.e., antipsychotics, psychostimulants, drugs of addictive disorders, antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs), and mental health service use.
Knowledge gap:Ìýquantify the association of reduced violence with psychotropic medication use and mental health service contact (and their interaction) for those with psychosis.
Status:ÌýinÌýpreliminary discussions with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
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Project description:ÌýÌýand his team at Oxford University have developed a free, scalable, web-based tool (OxRec) that requires minimal training to predict the risk of violent reoffending within 2 years post-release from prison. The OxRec (Oxford Risk of Recidivism) has been validated in a Swedish cohort of released prisoners. Using data-linkage, this project aims to examine the validity of the OxRec in predicting violent reoffending in those released from prisons in New South Wales.
Knowledge gap:Ìýto generate new knowledge into the utility of OxRec in the Australian context for risk prediction and alignment of outcomes with international validation studies.
Status:Ìýactive.
Related research:ÌýPrior to starting the project above,ÌýDr AkpanekpoÌýled a study aiming to examine whether violent recidivism predictions maintained their accuracy across youth custodial and community supervision settings. FindingsÌýsuggested that the strength and pattern of risk factor relationships may vary across different settings; therefore, statistical adjustments may be necessary when applying predictions across various contexts.
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Project description:ÌýThis data linkage study led byÌýÌýaims to investigate the contribution of child protection and out-of-home care on reoffending and desistence, health and health service use in young people known to both child protection services and youth justice. In addition, this project aims to examine reports of abuse or neglect as described by young people versus official reports of abuse and neglect.Ìý
Knowledge gap:Ìýgenerate new knowledge regarding the relationship between child protection and out-of-home care records and involvement with the criminal justice system, as well as health services.Ìý
Status:Ìýethics approval in place; finalising data access requirements and storage facility withÌýFamily and Community Services Insights, Analysis and Research (FACSIAR) and Youth Justice NSW.Ìý
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Project description:Ìýin this study led byÌý, we will leverage data from our existing NHMRC funded study (APP1108115) designed to investigate the efficacy of an ongoing intervention/program undertaken called ‘Beyond Violence’ (BV) for incarcerated women in Western Australia who have used, and been exposed to, violence. In this BV sample of 164 women, history of past traumatic brain injury (TBI), measures of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsivity scores) and past medical/psychiatric histories have been obtained. To extend the spectrum of offending within our study sample, we will prospectively recruit additional women offenders in NSW, and administer the same instruments (as per above in BV). Furthermore, using the same methodology as we previously used to assemble control sample for the male offenders (telephone survey targeting matched geographical region), we will obtain history (same instruments) from women who have not had contact with the criminal justice system. Analyses will explore the association of TBI history with 1) offending (and type of offending, including violent/non-violent), 2) impulsivity. In addition, we will explore whether and to what extent impulsivity is associated with violent as distinct from non-violent offending.
Knowledge gap:Ìýgenerating new knowledge with respect to the possible role of impulsivity in violence experienced/used by women who come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
Status:Ìýin preliminary discussions.
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Project description:ÌýThisÌýstudy led byÌý,ÌýProf DensonÌýandÌýÌýaims to test the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on impulsive aggression during brain imaging. Region-specific brain activity on functional MRI scans undertaken in real time during provocation trials is linked to levels of aggressive, retaliatory punishment chosen by participants. This behavioural paradigm is accepted as a very useful model for evaluating impulsive aggressive responses to provocation. In the proposed repeated measures experiment, impulsive violent offenders in the community will be recruited to undergo the Taylor aggression paradigm under two circumstances: on placebo and after 4 weeks of sertraline 100 mg/d.Ìý
Knowledge gap:Ìýtest the effects of SSRI on impulsive aggression.
Status:Ìýin preliminary discussions.