Putting the Onus on the Offenders: Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse

Hayley Alderson; Sara A Morgan; Jessica  Roy; Rachel Armitage; Ruth McGovern; William McGovern; Lydia Shrimpton; Emma Hazan; Stephanie Scott

doi:10.1177/10778012251409171

Putting the Onus on the Offenders: Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse

Hayley Alderson^*, Sara A Morgan, Jessica Roy , Rachel Armitage, Ruth McGovern, William McGovern, Lydia Shrimpton, Emma Hazan, Stephanie Scott

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Communities and Education

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a global public health challenge. Project Cautioning And Relationship Abuse (CARA) is an out-of-court resolution used across police forces in England and Wales for lower risk, alleged first-time DVA offenders. This article reports on qualitative interviews and focus groups with professionals (police, commissioners, and CARA facilitators and managers, N = 31) about their experiences of delivering CARA following its national rollout. Reflexive thematic analysis indicated strong multiprofessional support for CARA across geographical areas. Professionals recommended changes to enhance current delivery, relating to differential assessment of risk; adaptations to training/implementation; and exploring perceptions of CARA by voluntary sector organizations.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-28
Number of pages	28
Journal	Violence Against Women
Early online date	23 Dec 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251409171
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 23 Dec 2025

Keywords

domestic abuse
qualitative
prevention
out-of-court resolution
perpetrator workshops

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion keywords

Marginalisation

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alderson-et-al-2025-putting-the-onus-on-the-offenders-implementing-project-cautioning-and-relationship-abuse-awarenessFinal published version, 595 KBLicence: CC BY

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Alderson, H., Morgan, S. A., Roy , J., Armitage, R., McGovern, R., McGovern, W., Shrimpton, L., Hazan, E., & Scott, S. (2025). Putting the Onus on the Offenders: Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse. Violence Against Women, 1-28. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251409171

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abstract = "Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a global public health challenge. Project Cautioning And Relationship Abuse (CARA) is an out-of-court resolution used across police forces in England and Wales for lower risk, alleged first-time DVA offenders. This article reports on qualitative interviews and focus groups with professionals (police, commissioners, and CARA facilitators and managers, N = 31) about their experiences of delivering CARA following its national rollout. Reflexive thematic analysis indicated strong multiprofessional support for CARA across geographical areas. Professionals recommended changes to enhance current delivery, relating to differential assessment of risk; adaptations to training/implementation; and exploring perceptions of CARA by voluntary sector organizations.",

keywords = "domestic abuse, qualitative, prevention, out-of-court resolution, perpetrator workshops",

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doi = "10.1177/10778012251409171",

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Alderson, H, Morgan, SA, Roy , J, Armitage, R, McGovern, R, McGovern, W , Shrimpton, L, Hazan, E & Scott, S 2025, 'Putting the Onus on the Offenders: Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse', Violence Against Women, pp. 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251409171

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T2 - Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse

AU - Alderson, Hayley

AU - Morgan, Sara A

AU - Roy , Jessica

AU - Armitage, Rachel

AU - McGovern, Ruth

AU - McGovern, William

AU - Shrimpton, Lydia

AU - Hazan, Emma

AU - Scott, Stephanie

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KW - qualitative

KW - prevention

KW - out-of-court resolution

KW - perpetrator workshops

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ER -

Putting the Onus on the Offenders: Implementing Project Cautioning and Relationship Abuse Awareness Raising Workshops for Alleged First-Time Offenders of Domestic Violence and Abuse

Abstract

Keywords

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion keywords

Access to Document

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