Anita Ruddle

Anita completed her PhD at the University of Kent under the supervision of Professor Jane Wood. This PhD explored developmental predictors for domestic violence and in doing so led to the development of a Domestic Violence Predictors and Proclivity Tool. This PhD examined predictors such and childhood exposure to domestic violence, the role of anger ruminations, implicit theories and the proclivities associated with domestic violent offenders. The main focus and passion behind this project was in the ability to understand the role of developmental predictors, and novel factors that lead individuals to developing domestic violent proclivities, with the ambition to understand initial tells of those who share these proclivities with domestic violent offenders. Following her PhD, Anita joined the University of Northampton where she was involved in teaching and research in the areas of domestic violence, anger rumination, displaced aggression, emotional intelligence, foster care, gender equality, evolutional psychology and positive psychology.

Anita joined the Coventry University’s Psychology and Behavioural Sciences department in June 2018, where she is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, the Associate Course Director for the MSc Forensic Psychology and Mental Health Course, an Academic Misconduct Officer and a member of the Assessments Review Group. Since joining the department, Anita has been actively involved in developing innovative teaching materials, supervising research projects across face to face cohorts and distance learners; teaching primarily forensic psychology theory, research methods, and ethical practice modules. Current research projects include the validation of her newly developed Domestic Violence Predictors and Proclivity Tool, and exploring the multifaceted nature of aggression, anger rumination and emotional intelligence in a variety of human interactions and situations. Anita continues to develop research that focusses on intimate relationships, domestic violence, victimisation, anger rumination and displaced aggression.

Domestic abuse and violence, interpersonal conflict, displaced aggression, angry rumination, emotional intelligence, implicit theories, gender roles, post-traumatic growth, developmental predictors of abuse, and foster care.

One of the main motivations behind my research interests is my passion to reduce initial triggers and proclivities for offending among individuals who may not have yet caused serious harm. My focus is on perpetrators, and understanding their initial motivations, thoughts, states, implicit theories and how their childhood and early development may have influenced how they perceive the world and intimate interactions. Learning from past experiences is key in developing and putting in place mechanisms that could one day potentially reduce harm, anger, frustration, pain and heartache.