Research
Introduction
POLICY BRIEFS:
Intergenerational cycling of violence
Barriers and facilitators to child abuse disclosure
PUBLICATIONS BY THE INTERRUPT_VIOLENCE TEAM:
Franchino-Olsen, H, Maluleke, P, Christofides, N, Meinck, F & Woollett, N. (2026). Children's Voices Matter: Key Takeaways and Recommendations From Including Young Children in Violence Aginst Children Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251397807
Silima, M, Monaisa, K, Meinck, F, Christofides, N, Woollett, N & Franchino-Olsen, H. (2026). "When we speak to them at their level, they are able to speak everything": Reflections on training fieldworkers in South Africa to conduct research on violence across three generations. Child Protection and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chipro.2026.100280
Franchino-Olsen, H, Maluleke, P, Meinck, F, Christofides, N, Thurston, C, Asghar, K, & Woollett, N. (2026). Child-reported violence, beliefs, and mental health: A cross-sectional quantitative study of 6-17-year-olds in South Africa. Child Abuse & Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.107887
Meinck, F., Lu, M., Suresh, D., Cetin, M., Neelakantan, L., Hemady, C., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N., Melendez-Torres, G., Gonzalez, A., Christofides. N. (2025). What Are the Mechanisms Underpinning Intergenerational Transmission of Violence Perpetration? A Realist Review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, online first. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380251361468
Thurston, C., Murray, AL., Franchino-Olsen, H., Silima, M., Hemady, CL., Meinck, F. (2025) Prospective longitudinal associations between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380251358223
Thurston, C., Murray, A. L., Franchino-Olsen, H., & Meinck, F. (2025). Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences from a Longitudinal South African Community Sample: A Latent Class Analysis. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-025-00231-5
Asghar, K., Christofides, N., Falb, K., Jones, N., Meinck, F. Characterizing typologies of overlapping IPV and VAC in the home: Findings from DRC, Ethiopia and South Africa.Child Abuse & Neglect. 2025; 169 Part 1: 107637 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107637
Woollett, N., Maluleke, P., Franchino-Olsen, H., Christofides, N., Silima, M., Thurston, C., Monaisa, K., Asghar, K., Meinck, F. (2025). Understanding how violence is transmitted across generations? An in-depth multipole case study of families in South Africa. Psychology of Violence. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000602 also available open access here
Silima M, Christofides N, Franchino-Olsen H, Woollett N, Meinck F. A qualitative study exploring parenting among mothers and female caregivers living with the IPV, mental health and HIV syndemic in South Africa. BMJ Open. 2024 Oct 29;14(10):1-16. e086478. Epub 2024 Oct 29. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086478
Silima M, Christofides N, Franchino-Olsen H, Woollett N, Wang J, Ho-Foster A et al. Co-occurring Intimate Partner Violence, mental health, HIV and parenting among women: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence and Abuse. 2024 Sept 14;1-15. Epub 2024 Sept 14. doi: 10.1177/15248380241268807
Franchino-Olsen H, Meinck F, Orkin M. Toward a contextually sensitive understanding of polyvictimization: A latent class analysis of violence, risks, and protections among South African adolescents from highly deprived settings. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2024 Aug;39(15-16):3591-3618. Epub 2024 Feb 26. doi: 10.1177/08862605241233273
Woollett N, Christofides N, Franchino-Olsen H, Silima M, Fouche A, Meinck F. 'Children are like vuvuzelas always ready to blow’: Exploring how to engage young children in violence research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2024 Aug;39(15-16):3325-3351. Epub 2024 Feb 9. doi: 10.1177/08862605241230088
Franchino-Olsen H, Spreckelsen T, Orkin M, Meinck F. Contextually sensitive polyvictimization profiles and physical and mental health outcomes among South African adolescents from low-resource communities: An extended latent class analysis. Child Indicators Research. 2024 Jul 22. doi: 10.1007/s12187-024-10155-0
Franchino-Olsen H, Woollett N, Thurston C, Maluleke P, Christofides N, Meinck F. “They should ask me so that they can help me”: Patterns of young children’s expressed feelings and beliefs when interviewed about violence and difficult experiences. Child Abuse and Neglect. 2024 Jul 6;106932. Epub 2024 Jul 6. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106932
Silima M, Christofides N, Franchino-Olsen H, Woollett N, Meinck F. “I’ve accepted it because at the end of the day there is nothing, I can do about it”: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of women living with the HIV, intimate partner violence and mental health syndemic in Mpumalanga, South Africa. PLOS Global Public Health . 2024 May 6;4(5):1-23. e0002588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002588
Woollett N, Christofides N, Franchino-Olsen H, Silima M, Fouche A, Meinck F. ‘Through the drawings…they are able to tell you straight’: Using arts-based methods in violence research in South Africa. PLOS Global Public Health . 2023 Oct 9;3(10):1-19. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002209
Thurston C, Murray AL, Franchino-Olsen H, Meinck F. Prospective longitudinal associations between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health outcomes: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews. 2023 Sept 30;12(1):1-22. 181. doi: 10.1186/s13643-023-02330-1
Franchino-Olsen H, Christofides N, Woollett N, Fouche A, Silima M, Thurston C et al. Conducting violence research across multiple family generations and with young children: Findings from a mixed-methods pilot study in South Africa. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice. 2023 Mar 7. doi: 10.1007/s42448-023-00157-w
Meinck F, Woollett N, Franchino-Olsen H, Silima M, Thurston C, Fouché A et al. Interrupting the intergenerational cycle of violence: Protocol for a three-generational longitudinal mixed-methods study in South Africa (INTERRUPT_VIOLENCE). BMC Public Health. 2023 Feb 27;23:1-14. 395. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15168-y
DISCUSSION ARTICLES INVOLVING TEAM MEMBERS
Meinck F, Franchino-Olsen H, Hafstad GS, Jud A, Liel C, Nikolaidis G, Græsholt-Knudsen T. Who gets to decide when children participate? Considering the complexities of consent and gatekeeping in violence research. Child Abuse Negl. 2025 Sep 20;169(Pt 2):107679. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107679 also available open access here.
Græsholt-Knudsen, T., Backhaus, S., Chauviré-Geib, K., Fujita, A., Jernbro, C., Lange, S., Neelakantan, L., Oberleiter, D., Sandoz, V., Sophie Wallimann, M., Wissmann, L., Hecker, T., Sofie Hafstad, G., & Meinck, F. (2025). Include all children – a discussion of improving self-report measures of violence for overlooked child populations. Child Protection and Practice, 7, 100234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chipro.2025.100234
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROTOCOLS: