As a charity we are committed to being a learning organisation. To do this, we commission academically rigorous and timely research to help develop best practice around safeguarding within the faith sector in the UK and internationally, and to inform the development of our training, practice guidance and advice.
Our research studies
Do you work in safeguarding in faith or statutory contexts?
Together with the University of Chester we are researching how we can improve the working relationships between statutory and religious safeguarding professionals.
Through this research we aim to:
- Understand the perceptions and experiences of safeguarding professionals in statutory bodies and those with safeguarding responsibilities when working with each other.
- Explore to what extent professionals supporting survivors of abuse in religious settings understand the distinctive aspects of working in this context, and how better collaboration might be promoted between safeguarding officers working for statutory agencies and those with whom they liaise in religious organisations.
The participation part of our research has now closed, we are looking forward to sharing our findings with you.
2022: Thirtyone:eight partnered with the Department of Psychology at the University of Chester to conduct research into the challenges of safeguarding children and young people in international Christian work.
The research highlighted the complexities and challenges of working in the international context and how working together is key to developing effective safeguarding practice.
The aim of this research was to see whether co-production is a solution to the challenges of safeguarding children and young people in international Christian work. In this context, co-production means working in partnership with local people, agencies and organisations.
The final report of the research can be downloaded here.
In 2021, we partnered with the Department of Psychology at the University of Chester to conduct research into the experiences of safeguarding leads in their roles in Christian faith contexts in the United Kingdom before, during and post Covid-19.
The purpose of the research was to help build a better understanding of the impact the global pandemic has had on safeguarding in these settings.
The key themes emerging from the research were presented at an online roundtable event on Friday 11th June 2021 which can be viewed here.
The final report can be found here and a short video exploring the findings can be accessed here.
In 2017, we partnered with the National Centre for Post-qualifying Social Work & Professional Practice (NCPQSW) at Bournemouth University to conduct research into understandings of spiritual abuse in Christian communities.
The term ‘spiritual abuse‘ is currently contentious and the topic of much debate and so the aim of this research was to help existing work in understanding this form of abuse, and to inform the development of policy and practice guidance and training.
A summary of the findings can be downloaded here.
Our latest statement on the use and definition of the term spiritual abuse can be found here.
In 2016, we partnered with the Victoria Climbie Foundation (VCFUK) and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to undertake research on behalf of the government's National Working Group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith and Belief (of which we are member) and in line with the group's National Action Plan to explore understandings of this poorly understood issue. The aim of the research was to broaden knowledge and build a toolkit that could be used to aid people work in this area.
The summary findings of this research study can be downloaded here.
A peer-reviewed article based on the research was published in Child Abuse Review Vol. 28 in February 2019 which can be viewed here.
In 2014, we partnered with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to conduct the first and largest research study into understandings of safeguarding adults in the Christian faith community.
This research gathered over 3,000 participants from all over the UK and produced the largest-ever data sample looking at this issue.
As a result of this initial study, we have been able to draw a huge amount of learning about vulnerability and safeguarding adults in Christian contexts. The first of a series of studies from this data has resulted in a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Adult Protection.