On 9 June 2017 the School of Psychology held a national interdisciplinary conference titled Abusive Behaviour: Origin, Impact, and Recovery.
The conference highlighted the negative impact of abusive behaviour and discussed a variety of topics including: intimate partner violence, child abuse, bullying, childhood adversity, risk factors for offending, dynamics of prison violence, policing, and recovery from trauma. It was organised by five doctoral researchers: Shana Gander-Zaucker, Artur Brzozowski, Edward Ong, Fazeelat Duran, and Fyqa Gulzaib.
Held in the University’s Aston Webb building, the conference included eight talks from prominent experts in the field, including Professor Anthony Beech, Dr Caroline Bradbury-Jones and Dr Stephane De Brito all from the University of Birmingham; Professor Dieter Wolke from the University of Warwick; Dr Julie Taylor from the University of Cumbria; Dr Nicola Graham-Kevan from the University of Central Lancashire; Dr Kate Gooch from the University of Leicester; and Detective Sgt Sharon Smith from the West Midlands Police. The conference also included poster presentations that were given by doctoral researchers from various universities. Altogether, the talks and posters highlighted the topic of abuse from a multidisciplinary perspective, which covered areas such as psychology, law, and nursing.
The conference was open to attendees across the University of Birmingham and beyond. A diverse group of people attended including doctoral researchers, students, wellbeing officers, researchers, psychologists, career coordinators and lecturers. Furthermore, it received positive feedback including comments that the day was very insightful and inspiring.
The conference was sponsored by the Doctoral Researcher-led Research Conference Award given by the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham.