Rebecca Jane Harris

About

Rebecca Harris is a postgraduate research student at the University of Southampton within the department of Social Statistics and Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences.

In 2020, she was awarded a UKRI ESRC Interdisciplinary studentship from the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership to explore mental health outcomes of children exposed to domestic violence and abuse in low- and middle-income countries.

Rebecca’s research interests are mainly, although not exclusively, focussed on violence and mental health, exploring the broad areas of perpetration, prevention, protection, outcomes, and interventions. Whilst her current research is focussed on lower resource settings around the world, Rebecca has also spent time working at the UK Home Office within their Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls Research Group.

Rebecca is part of the Centre for Global Health and Policy (GHaP) research group, and helps to organise and facilitate ‘Healthy Lunch’ – a regular meeting with members which acts as a space to present and discuss research relevant to the field.

Research

Research groups

Member of:

Research interests

Domestic Violence and Abuse
Violence and Mental Health
Violence Against Women and Girls
Global Health and Inequalities
Maternal and Child Health

Current research

Thesis title: Mental health outcomes of children exposed to domestic violence and abuse in low- and middle-income countries

Supervisors: Amos Channon, Sara Morgan and James Hall

Date started: October 2020

Childhood exposure to domestic violence and abuse is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including poorer mental health and an increased risk of substance misuse and perpetration of violent crimes in adulthood. However, much of this evidence is based upon research from high income countries, and evidence on the scale, impact, and early appropriate interventions for affected children is limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Rebecca’s PhD seeks to investigate the prevalence of child exposure to domestic violence and abuse within LMICs and how this affects mental health later in life. Using a mixed-methods approach, Rebecca’s thesis explores the different ways of measuring exposure to domestic violence and abuse, followed by a multi-country comparative analysis on existing survey data to assess risk factors and outcomes. The final part of her PhD involved fieldwork in Nepal, where interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to assess public health and policy responses for children exposed to domestic violence.

Publications

2 publications

Page 1 of 1

Prevalence and correlates of children’s exposure to domestic violence in low- and middle-income countries

Rebecca Harris,

Andrew Amos Channon,

& Sara A. Morgan

, 2023

Type: conference

What do trainee cognitive behavioural therapists need from clinical supervision to develop their skills in working with people with psychosis? A qualitative analysis

Rebecca Harris,

Tessa Maguire,

& Katherine Newman-Taylor

, 2021 , Psychosis

DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2021.1924243

Type: article

Teaching

Rebecca has worked as a postgraduate teaching assistant on the following modules:

CRIM2004 - Criminological Psychology
DEMO2008/3007 - Population Change and Reproductive Health
DEMO2010 - Population Change in Low and Middle Income Countries
RESM1001 - Understanding the Social World
RESM1002 - The Use of Empirical Research in Social Science
STAT1003 - Introduction to Quantitative Methods
UOSM2004 - Global Health

Rebecca has also taught induction sessions, including an Introduction to MS Office, and an Introduction to SPSS.

External roles and responsibilities

Name: Prevalence and correlates of children’s exposure to domestic violence in low- and middle-income countries (European Conference on Domestic Violence)

Role: Speaker

Year: 2023

Name: Prevalence of Children Exposed to Domestic Violence and Abuse in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (University of Southampton Doctoral Research Poster Showcase)

Role: Speaker

Year: 2022

Name: Prevalence and Correlates of Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence and Abuse in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) Final Year Conference)

Role: Speaker

Year: 2023

Biography

Rebecca joined the department of Social Statistics and Demography as a PhD student in 2020 after being awarded an interdisciplinary studentship from the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership.

Prior to her PhD, Rebecca completed her undergraduate degree in BSc Psychology, with her dissertation focussing on cultural understanding and experiences of recovery from mental health difficulties. She achieved a distinction in her postgraduate degree, MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology, a course with a focus on clinical psychology and the challenges and management of mental health - both within the UK, and internationally.

Rebecca is currently the research assistant for the Leverhulme-funded project 'MaGMap: does open-source mass grave mapping and documenting protect or expose?', and was previously the senior project administrator for the GCRF funded ReGHID project, which explores the sexual and reproductive health of women and adolescents who are migrating from Central America to Mexico and the USA.

Outside of academia, Rebecca has previously worked as an assistant psychologist and a SEN teaching assistant, and has volunteered extensively with the men’s health charity, Movember, for which she has received both university and national recognition. She was also involved in the relaunch of the public health charity, Public Health Pathways (previously Cov360), as the Knowledge Manager and Coordinator for the Public Health Pathfinders Training Pilot. In 2022, Rebecca completed a three-month UKRI funded policy internship at the Home Office, working within the Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls research group.

Prizes

Dean's List Award - University of Southampton (2018)
Outstanding Contribution Award - University of Southampton's Society and Volunteering Awards (2021)
UKRI ESRC 3 Year Studentship (2020)
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Overall Winner - University of Southampton Doctoral Research Showcase (2022)

Miss Rebecca Harris

Research interests

About

Research

Research groups

Research interests

Current research

Publications

Teaching

External roles and responsibilities

Biography

Prizes