A view of Singleton Campus including Singleton Park and the beach, with the sea stretching into the horizon.

Professor Sarah Wydall

Professor in Criminology

Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy

s.m.wydall@swansea.ac.uk

Basic Welsh Speaker

Academic Office - 318
Third Floor
Keir Hardie Building
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9611-6530

About

My research interests focus on gendered harms, particularly on domestic abuse in later life.

Since 2010, I have led on fifteen research projects, covering domestic abuse perpetrators, children and young people, victims labelled 'high risk' and more recently the intersection of later life, gender, disability and sexual identity.

I have also co-produced and evaluated a Virtual Reality intervention ‘Through their eyes as a training tool for the police and other service providers. This tool aims to promote empathy in the headset wearer when responding to disclosures of domestic abuse or sexual violence. I am working on this with colleagues Dr Helen Miles and Rebecca Zerk from Aberystwyth University at the Centre for Age, Gender, and Social Justice (see link below)

I have secured funding worth £2.7M, from a wide variety of sources including the Home Office; Ministry of Justice; Welsh Government; AHRC; OPAN; Comic Relief; UK Portfolio; Big Innovation; and the National Communities fund.

I have led on the Dewis Choice Initiative in Wales since 2013. Our Team - Centre For Age Gender and Social Justice (dewischoice.org.uk) . This is a co-produced model that provides intensive support for older survivors from crisis through to recovery. In 2021 Adverse Childhood Experiences PPI mapping exercise for the World Organization Collaborating Centre identified Dewis as the only trauma-informed intervention in Wales for older survivors of domestic abuse.

I have also sat on a number of domestic homicide reviews by invitation, and I have contributed towards developing practice with Standing Together Against Domestic Violence (see links in research section).

Areas Of Expertise

Domestic abuse in later life
Domestic Abuse and Dementia
The use of virtual reality to improve the response to trauma.
Domestic Homicide (Men; People aged 60 years and over)
Domestic abuse and care that is dangerous

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Violence, Abuse and Harm
Violence against Women and Girls
The study of social harms
Deviance and Society
Meanings of Justice
Imprisonment
Media Representations of Harm
Domestic Homicide
Intersectional Oppressions

Qualitative research methodologies: I am a qualitative researcher, I am passionate about discovery-orientated research methodologies I am interested in teaching the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of research. As a social constructivist, adopting a relativist approach to human and non-human forms.

Research Award Highlights Collaborations

Publications

Research Highlights

Wydall, S., Zerk, R., & Freeman, E. (2023). Making the invisible, visible: older lesbian, gay and bisexual victim-survivors’ “lived experiences” of domestic abuse. The Journal of Adult Protection, 25(3), 167-185.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jap-10-2022-0020, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66170
Wydall, S. (2022). ‘A Good Practice Guide ‘Working with older LGBTQ+ victim-survivors of domestic abuse'
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66173
Wydall, S. (2021). Intimate partner violence: Transforming the response to older victim-survivors in later life. In John Devaney, Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Rebecca J. Macy, Carolina Øverlien, Stephanie Holt (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Domestic Violence and Abuse (pp. 184-200). Routledge
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66176
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429331053-17/intimate-partner-violence-sarah-wydall
Wydall, S. (2021). ‘Domestic Abuse and older people in sheltered and retirement housing’
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66178
Wydall, S., Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Zerk, R. (2019). Dewis Choice: A Welsh Initiative Promoting Justice for Older Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse. Violence Against Older Women, Volume II (pp. 13-36). Springer International Publishing
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16597-0_2, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66180
Wydall, S. & Freeman, E. (2019). Older People and Domestic Violence and Abuse. Domestic Violence in Health Contexts: A Guide for Healthcare Professions (pp. 89-107). Springer International Publishing
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29361-1_7, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66181
Wydall, S., Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Zerk, R. (2018). Domestic Abuse and Elder Abuse in Wales: A Tale of Two Initiatives. The British Journal of Social Work, 48(4), 962-981.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy056, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66182
Wydall, S. & Zerk, R. (2017). Domestic abuse and older people: factors influencing help-seeking. The Journal of Adult Protection, 19(5), 247-260.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jap-03-2017-0010, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66183
Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Wydall, S. (2016). Access to Justice for Victims/Survivors of Elder Abuse: A Qualitative Study. Social Policy and Society, 15(2), 207-220.
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474746415000202, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66184
Wydall, S. & Zerk, R. (2021). ‘Listen to me, his behaviour is erratic and I’m really worried for our safety . . .’: Help-seeking in the context of coercive control. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 21(5), 614-632.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819898513, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66401
Maestre Avila, F., Wydall, S., Strohmayer, A., Claisse, C., Warner, M., & Durrant, A. (2024). Conducting Interdisciplinary Research with Vulnerable Populations in Computing: Challenges, Practices, and Lessons Learned. In The 22nd European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 1-8). European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET).
https://doi.org/10.48340/ecscw2024_ws06, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67655
https://dl.eusset.eu/items/b4774840-7856-4566-b398-a1913dd09927

All Research

Journal Articles

Wydall, S., Zerk, R., & Freeman, E. (2023). Making the invisible, visible: older lesbian, gay and bisexual victim-survivors’ “lived experiences” of domestic abuse. The Journal of Adult Protection, 25(3), 167-185.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jap-10-2022-0020, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66170
Wydall, S. & Zerk, R. (2021). ‘Listen to me, his behaviour is erratic and I’m really worried for our safety . . .’: Help-seeking in the context of coercive control. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 21(5), 614-632.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819898513, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66401
Wydall, S., Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Zerk, R. (2018). Domestic Abuse and Elder Abuse in Wales: A Tale of Two Initiatives. The British Journal of Social Work, 48(4), 962-981.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy056, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66182
Wydall, S. & Zerk, R. (2017). Domestic abuse and older people: factors influencing help-seeking. The Journal of Adult Protection, 19(5), 247-260.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jap-03-2017-0010, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66183
Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Wydall, S. (2016). Access to Justice for Victims/Survivors of Elder Abuse: A Qualitative Study. Social Policy and Society, 15(2), 207-220.
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474746415000202, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66184

Book Chapters

Wydall, S. (2021). Intimate partner violence: Transforming the response to older victim-survivors in later life. In John Devaney, Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Rebecca J. Macy, Carolina Øverlien, Stephanie Holt (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Domestic Violence and Abuse (pp. 184-200). Routledge
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66176
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429331053-17/intimate-partner-violence-sarah-wydall
Wydall, S. & Freeman, E. (2019). Older People and Domestic Violence and Abuse. Domestic Violence in Health Contexts: A Guide for Healthcare Professions (pp. 89-107). Springer International Publishing
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29361-1_7, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66181
Wydall, S., Clarke, A., Williams, J., & Zerk, R. (2019). Dewis Choice: A Welsh Initiative Promoting Justice for Older Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse. Violence Against Older Women, Volume II (pp. 13-36). Springer International Publishing
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16597-0_2, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66180

Conference Contributions

Maestre Avila, F., Wydall, S., Strohmayer, A., Claisse, C., Warner, M., & Durrant, A. (2024). Conducting Interdisciplinary Research with Vulnerable Populations in Computing: Challenges, Practices, and Lessons Learned. In The 22nd European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 1-8). European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET).
https://doi.org/10.48340/ecscw2024_ws06, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67655
https://dl.eusset.eu/items/b4774840-7856-4566-b398-a1913dd09927

Other Research Outputs

Wydall, S. (2022). ‘A Good Practice Guide ‘Working with older LGBTQ+ victim-survivors of domestic abuse'
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66173
Wydall, S. (2021). ‘Domestic Abuse and older people in sheltered and retirement housing’
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66178

Taught Modules

ASC212 Criminological Theory: Content and Application

This module provides students with an understanding of criminology as a theoretical, conceptual and applied discipline. Therefore, the module analyses criminological theories of crime and deviance, and explores the application of the theories in real life cases. The module builds on level 4 understandings of competing theories and perspectives to provide students with deeper a knowledge of Criminology from a theoretical and conceptual perspective. It is delivered through interactive sessions that give students the opportunity to evaluate the extent to which each of the theories applies in real life cases. Students are guided through the processes of applying each theory to topical and sometimes contentious crimes, acts of deviance, and punishments.
ASCM43 Dissertation ( Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology)

Students will write a dissertation on a criminological topic of their own choice.
SSCM00 Developing Criminological Research and Dissertation Preparation

This module provides students with an understanding of key methodological approaches which are used in the field of Criminology to help them undertake either literature-based or empirical research themselves in partial completion of their dissertation in Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology. A keen focus will be afforded, through this module, to both the conceptual and applied natures of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and how these can be utilised to address specific types of research questions. In preparation for ASCM43 Dissertation module which is undertaken in TB3, this module prepares students for their proposed research dissertations, enabling them to plan their proposed methods in detail and obtain support in their dissertation planning.

Public Engagements

I have given numerous radio interviews, webinars, presentations and workshops on the topic of domestic abuse and justice, restorative approaches, intersections of age and gender and the invisibility of older people as victims of domestic abuse.

Most recent media outputs are as follows : ‘You had better be careful in your bed tonight’: shock rise in women killed by their sons | Domestic violence | The Guardian 2023

End femicide: 278 dead – the hidden scandal of older women killed by men | Crime | The Guardian

Invited Presentations, Lectures and Conferences

Dementia and Domestic Abuse : A Gap or Chasm in domestic abuse policy and practice? Key Note Speaker

September 2023

Division of Clinical Psychology, FROP Annual Conference- ‘Still here: Doing Things Differently’ British Psychological Society.
Symposium and Workshop: On Precarity and Domestic Abuse in Later Life The Dewis Choice Initiative

September 2023

The European Domestic Abuse Conference, Iceland
Intersectional oppression: The space between the lived experience and voice of victims of domestic abuse in later life...

June 2023

Social Care Research Roadshow ‘Research Matters’ Biannual Conference, Cardiff City Hall
‘Precarity, tales from a longitudinal study : the lived experiences of older victim-survivors, what next?

September 2023

Older People’s Commissioner Symposium on ‘Ageing and Abuse’, Cardiff OPCC venue

Professor Sarah Wydall

Email address

Welsh language proficiency

Twitter Account

Youtube Account

Youtube Account

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Career Highlights

Research Highlights

All Research

ASC212 Criminological Theory: Content and Application

ASCM43 Dissertation ( Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology)

SSCM00 Developing Criminological Research and Dissertation Preparation

Dementia and Domestic Abuse : A Gap or Chasm in domestic abuse policy and practice? Key Note Speaker

Symposium and Workshop: On Precarity and Domestic Abuse in Later Life The Dewis Choice Initiative

Intersectional oppression: The space between the lived experience and voice of victims of domestic abuse in later life...

‘Precarity, tales from a longitudinal study : the lived experiences of older victim-survivors, what next?