Personal statement
Melanie McCarry recently joined the School of Social Work and Social Policy to lead a new Social Policy programme. Prior to this she was a founding member of the Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm in the School of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire. Previously, she was the coordinator and one of the longest standing members of the Centre for Gender and Violence Research, University of Bristol. Melanie’s areas of expertise focus on male violence against women, children and young people; abuse in young people’s intimate relationships; gender roles and relations; participatory methods; and research ethics. She has published widely and her recent research led to a change in the UK definition of domestic abuse to include 16 and 17 year olds. Melanie sits on the UK and Scottish Government expert groups on violence against women, and is a member of various national and international research communities.
In addition to her teaching interests, Melanie continues to conduct research with three active projects ongoing. Melanie is co-PI and lead researcher on a Scottish Government funded project that is implementing the Gvt strategy on violence against women and girls, Equally Safe, on a HEI campus. She is also CI on a Scottish Gvt funded project on Forced Marriage. Melanie also continues to develop her ground-breaking work on abuse and violence in young people's intimate relationships and is currently exploring the role of mobile tech in coercive and other controlling behaviours in young people's intimate relationships.
Research interests
Melanie is co Primary Investigator (with Anni Donaldosn, Roisin McGoldrick, Kevin Pilkington) on a Scottish Government project that aims to implement Equally Safe, the Government’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls and produce a toolkit for challenging gender based violence (GBV) to be rolled out in Scottish HEIs. This project involves a number of work streams and methodologies. We will work with students, staff, senior university managers, Strathclyde University Students Association and external partners such as the Violence Reduction Unit, Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council to maintain a safe campus environment for all staff, students and visitors. The project plans to carry out campus-based surveys and develop a new MOOC. This (free) online course will reflect current national and international research findings in the field of gender-based violence and will also be available for free to the general public. The project will also be looking at ways to expand the coverage of GBV in social work, education and other professional degree programmes. This will ensure the university corresponds with changes in law and policy on GBV including domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault and prepare future professionals working with those affected. The project team aims to collaborate closely with colleagues across the education sector and also with outside experts in the field. These partnerships will help build a critical mass of good practice to be shared across all of Scotland’s higher and further education sectors. Overall, the project will deliver the first campus wide dataset on incidence of GBV, deliver the first MOOC on GBV, raise awareness across the campus community of all forms of GBV and provide sources of information and support for those affected.
Melanie is also currently working a Scotland wide project on Forced Marriage (2015-16) with colleagues Dr Khatidja Chantler (PI, University of Central Lacnashire) and Prof Mhairi Mackenzie (University of Glasgow). This project is partnered with key service providers Scottish Women’s Aid, Shakti and Hemat Gryffe. We are using a multi-methodological framework including policy analysis, survey and in-depth interviews in order to address three key research questions (RQs):
- RQ 1: level and profile of service use relating to forced marriage (FM).
- Methodology: national organisational database analysis and national survey.
- RQ2: mapping of FM services across Scotland; the coordination of services across Scotland; and professionals’ understanding and responses to FM.
- Methodology: national survey and interviews with strategic leads and service providers across Scotland.
- RQ 3: The impact of interventions (civil and criminal) for victims of FM.
- Methodology: in-depth semi-structured interviews with victims/survivors of FM and analysis of (redacted) FMPOs.
The final report is due summer 2016.
Melanie continues to develop her ground-breaking work on interpersonal violence in young people’s intimate relationships. The current project is exploring the role of mobile tech and how it is used to initiate or mediate against abuse and violence in young people’s intimate relationships.
Professional activities
- Making Education Safe for All
- Speaker
- 1/12/2016
more professional activities
Projects
- Understanding Forced Marriage in Scotland
- McCarry, Melanie (Principal Investigator)
- Period 01-Oct-2015 - 31-Mar-2016
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Address
Social Policy
Lord Hope Building
Lord Hope Building
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