Welcome
Welcome to the project page for ‘Developing a neurodiversity practitioner Guide for more inclusive domestic abuse perpetrator interventions.
This project is funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.
What is the project
This project will develop a practitioner Guide for domestic abuse perpetrator intervention practitioners who encounter Neurodivergent clients in the course of their work. The resources will be co-developed with partners who are: experts in domestic abuse perpetrator work; provide advocacy to Neurodivergent people; develop and deliver neurodiversity/Neurodivergence training; and consult on neuro-inclusive service design.
Why is this project needed?
This project builds on three research projects lead by Nicole Renehan. The first consisted of research on criminal justice domestic abuse perpetrator programmes (DAPPs) previously delivered in England and Wales. The research identified that neurodivergent (autistic and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)) men experienced barriers to programme engagement and completion above those of their neurotypical counterparts. The second project consisted of international research with DAPP providers, some of whom were also neurodivergent, who had tailored their practice to be more inclusive for neurodivergent clients. The third project sought the views of neurodivergent-led organisations, to ensure interventions are informed by the communities they seek to reach.
These three projects underscored the imminent need for a Guide to help practitioners in supporting neurodivergent clients attending domestic abuse perpetrator interventions.
What will the project involve?
This project has two phases. The first phase (March – August 2025) entailed running a series of action learning sets with professionals with expertise in neurodivergence and/ or facilitating domestic
abuse perpetrator interventions in order to co-produce a guide for practitioners who are working with neurodivergent people.
The second phase (September 2025-January 2026) of the project will involve delivering training, and piloting the Guide across the three project partner organisations’ delivery sites.
The project partners are:
- Community Justice Scotland
- Probation North East
- Respect
Operational Managers at each of the pilot sites will be provided with (and will distribute to practitioners) the draft Guide to use within the course of their usual activities, as and when needed. Feedback will be obtained during the pilot study and this will be used to revise the guide. We will obtain feedback by:
- Embedding a survey into the draft Guide for practitioners to provide feedback
- Undertake qualitative interviews with practitioners across the pilot sites
- Undertake qualitative interviews with domestic abuse perpetrator intervention participants
The Guide will be launched in April 2026 at a hybrid event in collaboration with project partners, Neurodiverse Connection and the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (Durham University).
Project team
Nicole is an Assistant Professor in Criminology in the Department of Sociology, and a member of Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (CRiVA) and the Centre for Neurodiversity and Development. Nicole has a practice background in domestic abuse within a multi-agency, child protection setting, and has experience of working with young men in secure settings and disabled/Neurodivergent young people who are in distress. Nicole’s research areas include the perpetration of domestic/intimate partner abuse, domestic abuse perpetrator interventions, and more specifically how interventions can be more responsive to a Neurodiverse perpetrator population. She is also interested in good practice, practitioner wellbeing, and victim-survivor experiences of criminal justice, safety and support.
Dr Nicole Renehan (Project Lead)
Dr Vicky Butterby (Research Associate)
Vicky is Research Associate at Durham University, and has a wide range of research expertise including contextual safeguarding, image-based abuse, economic abuse, policing in schools and young people’s experiences of loss and consent education. Vicky also has a practice background in teaching and as a teacher-educator. Vicky is the Research Associate working with Dr Nicole Renehan to develop the Guide for domestic abuse perpetrator intervention practitioners working with Neurodivergent clients.
