Research examining the support needs of victims/survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking have focused on various aspects of the victim ‘journey’, both in terms of understanding recovery trajectories and in proposing a variety of solutions. Despite this corpus of evidence, little is known about interventions in supporting survivors in residential safe house settings towards recovery and reintegration. Drawing on interviews with staff, volunteers and survivors, this chapter will examine the practice of support in a safe house for women in the UK, which is rooted in the values of Love, Respect, Community and Spirituality. The chapter then makes the case for the benefits of applying the theoretical concept of Psychological Capital (Luthans, 2004), and its key features of Hope, Resilience, Optimism and Self-Efficacy, to understand survivor experiences of this values-based support. Bringing academic knowledge and conceptual frameworks to practitioners’ attention can be useful in making explicit underlying assumptions about survivors needs, best practice interventions and how to improve support as new findings emerge. The significance and benefits of values-based models of support demonstrates the potential to improve access to psychological capital for survivors, incorporating hope, resilience, self-efficacy and optimism, in turn improving positive outcomes.

Frontline practitioners working in trauma-exposed fields often experience vicarious trauma and burnout, affecting both their well-being and their ability to provide effective services. Without intentional reflection and support, these cumulative stressors can lead to compassion fatigue, ethical dilemmas, and diminished professional resilience. This presentation explores the role of reflective practice in safeguarding practitioners’ mental and emotional health while maintaining high-quality service delivery.

Drawing insights from a practitioner short course at St Mary’s, Anta Brachou will discuss the significance of creating and holding safe spaces for practitioners to critically engage with their experiences. Reflective practice provides a framework for exploring personal boundaries, identifying strengths and limitations, and addressing support needs in a constructive and ethical manner. Through facilitated discussions and peer support, practitioners can develop sustainable coping mechanisms and enhance their professional efficacy. 

This presentation will highlight how reflective practice can act as both a preventative and restorative tool against vicarious trauma. It will discuss ways of embedding reflective practices within organisational cultures to ensure long-term practitioner well-being. By integrating reflection into professional routines, practitioners can better navigate the emotional complexities of their work, set appropriate boundaries, and sustain their passion for service.

This presentation specifically considers Higher Education Institutions and their potential to examine two key themes from this conference, that of ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’. HEI’s can manifest crisis – they have specific and unique challenges that have been shown to enable sexual violence, but they also, in a much more optimistic view, provide an opportunity for intervention, prevention and, importantly, education. Studies found that students were at a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence, but that there was little awareness of this amongst them (Bailey 2010). The OfS have also been active in this area, most recently with the E6 Condition of Registration (2025), considered by Advance HE as carrying ‘significant governance implications for all higher education providers’ (Advance HE, 2025).

Drawing on frameworks established by EmilyTest, a gender-based violence charity, the Alice Ruggles Trust, a young person's stalking prevention charity, and St Mary’s University’s own multi-agency project – UNISafe, this presentation will outline key challenges for the universities, both as sites of enabling and opportunites for developing multi-agency practical interventions to support prevention, awareness raising, identification and support. Vitally, this work must be informed by the young people it serves, their families and by those with lived experience.

The language of a ‘crisis-ridden’ system appears to be a defining feature of criminal justice in the UK. As demands on police, courts, prisons and probation continue to increase the criminal justice system is failing to cope and address areas of poor performance. Criminal justice policy, according to Dignan et.al (2019) is weak due to a threefold crisis: the crisis of penological resources, crisis of visibility and the crisis of legitimacy. Bradford et.al. (2024) refer to the perpetual cycle of crisis in policing as a ‘permacrisis’. The system is failing both victims and defendants and the government has pledged to end the crisis. Simply doing more of the same will not resolve long-standing problems.

This presentation will present a twofold argument. First, policy and practice in criminal justice should use moments of crisis as an opportunity to rethink the aims of the criminal justice system. Second, criminology needs to reconceptualise theory, research and practice and look beyond biological, psychological and sociological explanations of crime and deviance. Drawing on positive criminology, this presentation will illustrate why the focus on positive characteristics, processes and influences not just in an individual’s life but also within our systems genuinely offers an opportunity for change and progress. This perspective in criminology will help revisit fundamental ideas about crime, justice, and punishment.