Andy Myhill
Biographic Data
| ID | 3562776 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andy Myhill |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andy |
| FAMILY NAME | Myhill |
| SIGNATURE | MYHILL A |
| AFFILIATIONS | College of Policing |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0805-8728 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 231 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
It builds the bigger picture’: Viewing intimate partner sexual violence investigations through the lens of coercive control
Despite research highlighting high attrition rates in intimate partner rape and sexual assault cases progressing through the criminal justice system, limited attention has been paid to the investigation of these offences within the broader context of domestic abuse, and specifically coercive control. Addressing this gap, this exploratory study draws on seven anonymised police case examples and 20 interviews with police investigators and superviso…
Improving police investigation of intimate partner sexual violence: Challenges and opportunities
This article reviews how police investigate Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV). IPSV is both domestic abuse and sexual violence. This duality means there is flexibility as to how it is investigated. An empirical study in England and Wales shows that as a result of this duality/flexibility there is significant variability in how IPSV is investigated by police forces. Despite widespread support for taking a specialist approach to investigating…
The systemic procedural injustice faced by victim-survivors in police responses to rape and ‘serious’ sexual offences: A comprehensive study of four forces in England and Wales
Drawing on a large multi-method study in England and Wales, this paper outlines key challenges to procedural justice faced by victim-survivors in contemporary police responses to rape and ‘serious’ sexual offences. It draws on an innovative dataset – involving ‘real-time’ police ethnographic observations and review of police video footage, combined with supporting stakeholder focus groups and interviews – to provide a multifaceted, holistic exami…
The ‘officer effect’ in risk assessment for domestic abuse: Findings from a mixed methods study in England and Wales
Research on risk assessment for domestic abuse has focused primarily on the predictive validity of specific tools; less attention has been paid to implementation of risk tools by practitioners. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods study in England and Wales. Multi-level modelling reveals an ‘officer effect’ whereby victims’ responses to the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) risk assessment are i…
Developing and Testing New Domestic Abuse Questions and Approach for the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Previous research highlighted that a fundamental rethink of the measurement of domestic abuse was needed in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The research reported here aimed to develop and test new questions on domestic abuse for the CSEW to improve the headline prevalence measure, including frequency of abuse, to develop a way of measuring controlling or coercive behavior within the overall prevalence measure, and to develop a meas…
The Measurement of Domestic Abuse – Redeveloping the Crime Survey for England and Wales
A fundamental rethink of the current CSEW self-completion module is required, with a wider set of questions about domestic abuse and impact. A revised module should identify and provide estimation of prevalence for different 'abuse profiles' that would complement improved headline measures and better inform policy and practice
A genuine one usually sticks out a mile’: Policing coercive control in England and Wales
In 2015, legislation was enacted in England and Wales to criminalise coercive control. While there has been considerable debate on the merits of the law, there has been little empirical study of its use in practice. This paper presents findings from a focused ethnography conducted in two police forces in England. Field observations with first response officers and specialist investigators reveal structural and social-cultural contexts that mitiga…
Coercive Control: Patterns in Crimes, Arrests and Outcomes for a New Domestic Abuse Offence
Critics of the criminalization of coercive control warned that the criminal justice system was ill-prepared for a conceptualization of domestic abuse that relies on victim accounts of fear and manipulation rather than on evidence of violence. Using data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to police forces and aggregated police records, this paper presents police force-level and nationwide patterns in recorded crimes, police arrests a…
Policing a new domestic abuse crime: Effects of force-wide training on arrests for coercive control
Following a pre-registered study design, we estimated the effect of police force-wide domestic abuse training on arrests for the new crime of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’. Using data on monthly counts of arrest for controlling or coercive behaviour in 33 police forces, we performed a negative binomial difference-in-difference analysis and capitalised on differences in intervention timing to undertake an event study. Training was associated…
The “Golden Thread”: Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence
Research on risk assessment for domestic violence has to date focused primarily on the predictive power of individual risk factors and the statistical validity of risk assessment tools in predicting future physical assault in sub-sets of cases dealt with by the police. This study uses data from risk assessment forms from a random sample of cases of domestic violence reported to the police. An innovative latent trait model is used to test whether …
Counting with understanding? What is at stake in debates on researching domestic violence
This article addresses recent debates relating to the measurement of domestic violence, and in particular the ‘domestic violent crime’ framework proposed by Sylvia Walby and colleagues. We argue for the utility of coercive control as a framework for measurement of domestic violence, and highlight what we see as misrepresentation of this concept in the work of Walby and colleagues. We also point to the limitations of traditional crime codes in cap…
Measuring domestic violence: Context is everything
Measurement of domestic violence in population surveys has generated significant debate over a number of years, with researchers and practitioners split over the extent to which violence in intimate relationships is ‘gendered’. While many surveys suggest women and men experience similar levels of domestic violence, domestic violence practitioners see abuse as perpetrated primarily by men against women. Those writing from a feminist-advocate persp…
Practitioner (mis)understandings of coercive control in England and Wales
Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation. Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation …
Renegotiating domestic violence: Police attitudes and decisions concerning arrest
This paper presents findings from a comparative study of police decision-making. Interview data are used to revisit Hoyle’s [1998. Negotiating domestic violence: police, criminal justice and victims. Oxford: Oxford University Press] explanatory model of police decision-making in response to domestic violence. The analysis suggested Hoyle’s model remains relevant: officers were more likely to arrest if there was evidence of a criminal offence they…
Police use of discretion in response to domestic violence
This article addresses the issue of police officers’ use of discretion when responding to domestic violence. With reference to Ericson and Haggerty’s theory of risk-oriented policing, we collected data direct from information management systems in an English police force and conducted field observations with attending officers to explore the degree to which officers used discretion to interpret the national definition of domestic violence. We als…
Measuring Coercive Control: What Can We Learn From National Population Surveys
Numerous academic studies point to gender symmetry in the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Many of these studies report findings from surveys with small and/or unrepresentative samples that have insufficient questions to differentiate adequately between different types of abuse. Data from a large, nationally representative survey suggest that, while the prevalence of situational violence is fairly symmetrical, coercive controlling a…
Why do ‘the law’ comply? Procedural justice, group identification and officer motivation in police organizations
How can police officers be encouraged to commit to changing organizational and personal practice? In this paper we test organizational justice theories that suggest that fair processes and procedures enhance rule compliance and commitment to the organization and its goals. We pay particular attention to (a) tensions between the role of group identity in organizational justice models and classic concerns about ‘cop culture’; and (b) the danger of …
Triggers of change to public confidence in the police and criminal justice system: Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales panel experiment
Accounts of public ‘trust and confidence’ in criminal justice agencies often fall into one of two camps. Instrumental accounts suggest that people trust police and the criminal justice system (CJS) when they believe them to be effective in fighting crime and reducing offending. Expressive or affective accounts, by contrast, suggest people place as much or more emphasis on the social meaning of justice institutions as on their instrumental activit…
Overcoming cop culture? Organizational justice and police officers’ attitudes toward the public
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test theories of organizational justice in the context of a police agency. Design/methodology/approach Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyze data from a survey of officers in a police force in England. Findings The SEM showed that organizational justice was associated with positive attitudes towards serving members of the public. This relationship was mediated by commitment to elements of …
Why do People Comply with the Law: Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions
This paper extends Tyler’s procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new conceptualization of legitimacy based on not just the recognition of power, but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police’s right to dictate appropriate behaviour not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they beli…
Can police enhance public confidence by improving quality of service? Results from two surveys in England and Wales
Public opinions of the police have been a fixture at the top of the policy agenda in England and Wales in recent years, with successive governments stating they wish to see improvements in 'trust and confidence'. But significant doubts remain as to how this might be done, and even if it is possible for police to enhance public confidence in any straightforward way. Indeed, it often seems that it is much easier for police to damage public opinion …
Procedural Justice, Trust, and Institutional Legitimacy
This paper summarizes ‘procedural justice’ approaches to policing, contrasting these to the more politically dominant discourse about policing as crime control. It argues that public trust in policing is needed partly because this may result in public cooperation with justice, but more importantly because public trust in justice builds institutional legitimacy and thus public compliance with the law and commitment to the rule of law. Some recent …
Why do People Comply with the Law: Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions
This paper extends Tyler’s procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new conceptualization of legitimacy based on not just the recognition of power, but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police’s right to dictate appropriate behaviour not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they beli…
Measuring Coercive Control: What Can We Learn From National Population Surveys
Numerous academic studies point to gender symmetry in the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Many of these studies report findings from surveys with small and/or unrepresentative samples that have insufficient questions to differentiate adequately between different types of abuse. Data from a large, nationally representative survey suggest that, while the prevalence of situational violence is fairly symmetrical, coercive controlling a…
Can police enhance public confidence by improving quality of service? Results from two surveys in England and Wales
Public opinions of the police have been a fixture at the top of the policy agenda in England and Wales in recent years, with successive governments stating they wish to see improvements in 'trust and confidence'. But significant doubts remain as to how this might be done, and even if it is possible for police to enhance public confidence in any straightforward way. Indeed, it often seems that it is much easier for police to damage public opinion …
Triggers of change to public confidence in the police and criminal justice system: Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales panel experiment
Accounts of public ‘trust and confidence’ in criminal justice agencies often fall into one of two camps. Instrumental accounts suggest that people trust police and the criminal justice system (CJS) when they believe them to be effective in fighting crime and reducing offending. Expressive or affective accounts, by contrast, suggest people place as much or more emphasis on the social meaning of justice institutions as on their instrumental activit…
Renegotiating domestic violence: Police attitudes and decisions concerning arrest
This paper presents findings from a comparative study of police decision-making. Interview data are used to revisit Hoyle’s [1998. Negotiating domestic violence: police, criminal justice and victims. Oxford: Oxford University Press] explanatory model of police decision-making in response to domestic violence. The analysis suggested Hoyle’s model remains relevant: officers were more likely to arrest if there was evidence of a criminal offence they…
Policing a new domestic abuse crime: Effects of force-wide training on arrests for coercive control
Following a pre-registered study design, we estimated the effect of police force-wide domestic abuse training on arrests for the new crime of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’. Using data on monthly counts of arrest for controlling or coercive behaviour in 33 police forces, we performed a negative binomial difference-in-difference analysis and capitalised on differences in intervention timing to undertake an event study. Training was associated…
Police use of discretion in response to domestic violence
This article addresses the issue of police officers’ use of discretion when responding to domestic violence. With reference to Ericson and Haggerty’s theory of risk-oriented policing, we collected data direct from information management systems in an English police force and conducted field observations with attending officers to explore the degree to which officers used discretion to interpret the national definition of domestic violence. We als…
The Measurement of Domestic Abuse – Redeveloping the Crime Survey for England and Wales
A fundamental rethink of the current CSEW self-completion module is required, with a wider set of questions about domestic abuse and impact. A revised module should identify and provide estimation of prevalence for different 'abuse profiles' that would complement improved headline measures and better inform policy and practice
A genuine one usually sticks out a mile’: Policing coercive control in England and Wales
In 2015, legislation was enacted in England and Wales to criminalise coercive control. While there has been considerable debate on the merits of the law, there has been little empirical study of its use in practice. This paper presents findings from a focused ethnography conducted in two police forces in England. Field observations with first response officers and specialist investigators reveal structural and social-cultural contexts that mitiga…
Practitioner (mis)understandings of coercive control in England and Wales
Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation. Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation …
Coercive Control: Patterns in Crimes, Arrests and Outcomes for a New Domestic Abuse Offence
Critics of the criminalization of coercive control warned that the criminal justice system was ill-prepared for a conceptualization of domestic abuse that relies on victim accounts of fear and manipulation rather than on evidence of violence. Using data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to police forces and aggregated police records, this paper presents police force-level and nationwide patterns in recorded crimes, police arrests a…
Counting with understanding? What is at stake in debates on researching domestic violence
This article addresses recent debates relating to the measurement of domestic violence, and in particular the ‘domestic violent crime’ framework proposed by Sylvia Walby and colleagues. We argue for the utility of coercive control as a framework for measurement of domestic violence, and highlight what we see as misrepresentation of this concept in the work of Walby and colleagues. We also point to the limitations of traditional crime codes in cap…
Improving police investigation of intimate partner sexual violence: Challenges and opportunities
This article reviews how police investigate Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV). IPSV is both domestic abuse and sexual violence. This duality means there is flexibility as to how it is investigated. An empirical study in England and Wales shows that as a result of this duality/flexibility there is significant variability in how IPSV is investigated by police forces. Despite widespread support for taking a specialist approach to investigating…
Procedural Justice, Trust, and Institutional Legitimacy
This paper summarizes ‘procedural justice’ approaches to policing, contrasting these to the more politically dominant discourse about policing as crime control. It argues that public trust in policing is needed partly because this may result in public cooperation with justice, but more importantly because public trust in justice builds institutional legitimacy and thus public compliance with the law and commitment to the rule of law. Some recent …
Can police enhance public confidence by improving quality of service? Results from two surveys in England and Wales
Public opinions of the police have been a fixture at the top of the policy agenda in England and Wales in recent years, with successive governments stating they wish to see improvements in 'trust and confidence'. But significant doubts remain as to how this might be done, and even if it is possible for police to enhance public confidence in any straightforward way. Indeed, it often seems that it is much easier for police to damage public opinion …
Why do People Comply with the Law: Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions
This paper extends Tyler’s procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new conceptualization of legitimacy based on not just the recognition of power, but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police’s right to dictate appropriate behaviour not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they beli…
Overcoming cop culture? Organizational justice and police officers’ attitudes toward the public
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test theories of organizational justice in the context of a police agency. Design/methodology/approach Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyze data from a survey of officers in a police force in England. Findings The SEM showed that organizational justice was associated with positive attitudes towards serving members of the public. This relationship was mediated by commitment to elements of …
Why do ‘the law’ comply? Procedural justice, group identification and officer motivation in police organizations
How can police officers be encouraged to commit to changing organizational and personal practice? In this paper we test organizational justice theories that suggest that fair processes and procedures enhance rule compliance and commitment to the organization and its goals. We pay particular attention to (a) tensions between the role of group identity in organizational justice models and classic concerns about ‘cop culture’; and (b) the danger of …
Triggers of change to public confidence in the police and criminal justice system: Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales panel experiment
Accounts of public ‘trust and confidence’ in criminal justice agencies often fall into one of two camps. Instrumental accounts suggest that people trust police and the criminal justice system (CJS) when they believe them to be effective in fighting crime and reducing offending. Expressive or affective accounts, by contrast, suggest people place as much or more emphasis on the social meaning of justice institutions as on their instrumental activit…
Police use of discretion in response to domestic violence
This article addresses the issue of police officers’ use of discretion when responding to domestic violence. With reference to Ericson and Haggerty’s theory of risk-oriented policing, we collected data direct from information management systems in an English police force and conducted field observations with attending officers to explore the degree to which officers used discretion to interpret the national definition of domestic violence. We als…
Measuring Coercive Control: What Can We Learn From National Population Surveys
Numerous academic studies point to gender symmetry in the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Many of these studies report findings from surveys with small and/or unrepresentative samples that have insufficient questions to differentiate adequately between different types of abuse. Data from a large, nationally representative survey suggest that, while the prevalence of situational violence is fairly symmetrical, coercive controlling a…
Measuring domestic violence: Context is everything
Measurement of domestic violence in population surveys has generated significant debate over a number of years, with researchers and practitioners split over the extent to which violence in intimate relationships is ‘gendered’. While many surveys suggest women and men experience similar levels of domestic violence, domestic violence practitioners see abuse as perpetrated primarily by men against women. Those writing from a feminist-advocate persp…
Practitioner (mis)understandings of coercive control in England and Wales
Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation. Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation …
Renegotiating domestic violence: Police attitudes and decisions concerning arrest
This paper presents findings from a comparative study of police decision-making. Interview data are used to revisit Hoyle’s [1998. Negotiating domestic violence: police, criminal justice and victims. Oxford: Oxford University Press] explanatory model of police decision-making in response to domestic violence. The analysis suggested Hoyle’s model remains relevant: officers were more likely to arrest if there was evidence of a criminal offence they…
The “Golden Thread”: Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence
Research on risk assessment for domestic violence has to date focused primarily on the predictive power of individual risk factors and the statistical validity of risk assessment tools in predicting future physical assault in sub-sets of cases dealt with by the police. This study uses data from risk assessment forms from a random sample of cases of domestic violence reported to the police. An innovative latent trait model is used to test whether …
Counting with understanding? What is at stake in debates on researching domestic violence
This article addresses recent debates relating to the measurement of domestic violence, and in particular the ‘domestic violent crime’ framework proposed by Sylvia Walby and colleagues. We argue for the utility of coercive control as a framework for measurement of domestic violence, and highlight what we see as misrepresentation of this concept in the work of Walby and colleagues. We also point to the limitations of traditional crime codes in cap…
Policing a new domestic abuse crime: Effects of force-wide training on arrests for coercive control
Following a pre-registered study design, we estimated the effect of police force-wide domestic abuse training on arrests for the new crime of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’. Using data on monthly counts of arrest for controlling or coercive behaviour in 33 police forces, we performed a negative binomial difference-in-difference analysis and capitalised on differences in intervention timing to undertake an event study. Training was associated…
A genuine one usually sticks out a mile’: Policing coercive control in England and Wales
In 2015, legislation was enacted in England and Wales to criminalise coercive control. While there has been considerable debate on the merits of the law, there has been little empirical study of its use in practice. This paper presents findings from a focused ethnography conducted in two police forces in England. Field observations with first response officers and specialist investigators reveal structural and social-cultural contexts that mitiga…
Coercive Control: Patterns in Crimes, Arrests and Outcomes for a New Domestic Abuse Offence
Critics of the criminalization of coercive control warned that the criminal justice system was ill-prepared for a conceptualization of domestic abuse that relies on victim accounts of fear and manipulation rather than on evidence of violence. Using data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to police forces and aggregated police records, this paper presents police force-level and nationwide patterns in recorded crimes, police arrests a…
The ‘officer effect’ in risk assessment for domestic abuse: Findings from a mixed methods study in England and Wales
Research on risk assessment for domestic abuse has focused primarily on the predictive validity of specific tools; less attention has been paid to implementation of risk tools by practitioners. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods study in England and Wales. Multi-level modelling reveals an ‘officer effect’ whereby victims’ responses to the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) risk assessment are i…
Developing and Testing New Domestic Abuse Questions and Approach for the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Previous research highlighted that a fundamental rethink of the measurement of domestic abuse was needed in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The research reported here aimed to develop and test new questions on domestic abuse for the CSEW to improve the headline prevalence measure, including frequency of abuse, to develop a way of measuring controlling or coercive behavior within the overall prevalence measure, and to develop a meas…
The Measurement of Domestic Abuse – Redeveloping the Crime Survey for England and Wales
A fundamental rethink of the current CSEW self-completion module is required, with a wider set of questions about domestic abuse and impact. A revised module should identify and provide estimation of prevalence for different 'abuse profiles' that would complement improved headline measures and better inform policy and practice
Improving police investigation of intimate partner sexual violence: Challenges and opportunities
This article reviews how police investigate Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV). IPSV is both domestic abuse and sexual violence. This duality means there is flexibility as to how it is investigated. An empirical study in England and Wales shows that as a result of this duality/flexibility there is significant variability in how IPSV is investigated by police forces. Despite widespread support for taking a specialist approach to investigating…
The systemic procedural injustice faced by victim-survivors in police responses to rape and ‘serious’ sexual offences: A comprehensive study of four forces in England and Wales
Drawing on a large multi-method study in England and Wales, this paper outlines key challenges to procedural justice faced by victim-survivors in contemporary police responses to rape and ‘serious’ sexual offences. It draws on an innovative dataset – involving ‘real-time’ police ethnographic observations and review of police video footage, combined with supporting stakeholder focus groups and interviews – to provide a multifaceted, holistic exami…
It builds the bigger picture’: Viewing intimate partner sexual violence investigations through the lens of coercive control
Despite research highlighting high attrition rates in intimate partner rape and sexual assault cases progressing through the criminal justice system, limited attention has been paid to the investigation of these offences within the broader context of domestic abuse, and specifically coercive control. Addressing this gap, this exploratory study draws on seven anonymised police case examples and 20 interviews with police investigators and superviso…
Psychology (20 works) · Criminology (17 works) · Political science (17 works) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (16 works) · Social Psychology (15 works) · Law (13 works) · Poison control (13 works) · Medicine (12 works) · Domestic violence (11 works) · Policing Practices and Perceptions (9 works)