Open AccessConstructing Fatality Review: A Policy Analysis of the Emergence of Domestic Homicide Reviews in England and Wales
Author(s) -
James Rowlands
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
violence against women
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.807
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1552-8448
pISSN - 1077-8012
DOI - 10.1177/10778012211068064
Subject(s) - operationalization , homicide , conceptualization , thematic analysis , agency (philosophy) , criminology , domestic violence , settlement (finance) , sociology , political science , poison control , medicine , human factors and ergonomics , qualitative research , computer science , epistemology , social science , medical emergency , philosophy , artificial intelligence , world wide web , payment
In England and Wales, Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) examine domestic abuse-related deaths to identify lessons to be learned. However, their emergence as a policy initiative has been little considered. To address this gap, a thematic discourse analysis of policy documents to 2011 was undertaken, examining the justification for, and conceptualization of, DHRs before their implementation. It is argued that DHRs were constructed as a taken-for-granted good, through which multi-agency partners would generate learning while the (gendered) subject was silenced. Attending to aspirations, contradictions, and tensions in the emergence of DHRs has implications for their understanding and operationalization in the present.