‘This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief’: a provisional assessment of the utility of police victim statements in the qualitative understanding of domestic violence and abuse

Understanding the factors that influence the decisions made by victims of domestic violence and abuse has, for some time, been a key area of focus for professionals working within the Criminal Justice System and academic researchers alike. Using female victims’ reported decision-making around incidences of domestic violence and abuse as an illustrative case study, this paper analyses N=120 Police Victim Statements, collected by officers in one force in Northwest England. The usefulness of a PVS as a form of qualitative research data to better understand domestic violence and abuse is examined by means of a deductive content analysis. Drawing on the literature addressing decision-making by victims in domestic violence and abuse, a simple coding frame was developed to provide a structure for the initial investigation of the Police Victim Statements to examine the type of data contained in these legal documents. Findings suggest that, whilst they have some limitations, PVSs are a valuable and currently under-utilised form of qualitative data to research and understand victim decision-making in domestic violence and abuse.