Carmen Gill

Dr. Carmen Gill joined the Department of Sociology on a full-time basis in 2014 after spending ten-years (2004-2014) as Director of the Muriel McQueen Centre for Family Violence Research.

Dr. Carmen Gill works in partnership with police agencies in Canada. Her research focuses on police intervention in intimate partner violence (IPV), domestic homicide and treatment of perpetrators and victims through the criminal justice system. Dr. Carmen Gill is currently leading a three years national research project entitled: Coercive control, risk assessment and evidence of intimate partner violence: Police response in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) and l’École nationale de police du Québec.

Dr. Carmen Gill was the leader of the Canadian observatory on the justice system response to intimate partner violence (2006-2016). She led the development of the national framework for collaborative police action on IPV with CACP. She is conducting research on domestic homicide in New Brunswick for the period of 1999 to 2018.

Research interests

My research interest has been for several years now on domestic violence, intimate partner violence, domestic homicide, family violence and sexual violence. I have been involved in several projects focusing on victims of violence and have acquired expertise in intervention and victimization. At the present time, I am immersed in better understanding the justice response to intimate partner violence, especially coercive controlling behaviour. This work involves the court, prosecution and as well police action.

Dr. Gill uses quantitative methods in her research which includes surveys and data collection from various justice files. Dr. Gill has also used qualitative methods such as individual interviews and focus groups in different research projects engaging with community-based organizations and survivors of violence.

Selected publications

Aspinall. M, Gill, C., Cousineau, M.M., & M. Dawson. 2024. "Coercive control and risk in intimate partner violence: Are Canadian police prepared to assess?" Policing & Society. Published online February 2024.

Gill. C. & M. Aspinall. 2022. Understanding violence in relationships. Mass Casualty Commission, June.

Gill, C., Campbell. M.A. & Ballucci, D. 2021. "Police officers definitions and understandings of intimate partner violence in New Brunswick, Canada", The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. Vol.94(1): 20-39. Online First: (2019: 1-20).

Ballucci, D., Campbell. M.A. & C. Gill. 2020. "Use of the ODARA by Police Officer for Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for Practice in the Field", Journal of Community Safety & Well-Being. Vol.5(3): 91-102.

Gill, C. & Aspinall, M. 2020. Understanding coercive control in the context of intimate partner violence in Canada: How to address the issue through the criminal justice system? Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime Department of Justice Canada.

Campbell, M.A., Gill, C. & D. Ballucci. 2018. “Informing Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence: Predictors of Perceived Usefulness of Risk Assessment Screening”, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.

Ballucci, D., Gill, C. & M.A. Campbell. 2017. “The power of attitude: The Role of Police Culture and Receptivity of Risk Assessment Tools in IPV Calls”, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. Vol. 11, no 3, 242-257.

Gill, C., Fitch, L. & K. Greenwood. 2016. National Framework on Collaborative Police Proaction on Intimate Partner Violence. Sociology, UNB, March.

Weeks, L., MacQuarrie, C., Begley, L. and C. Gill. 2016. “Strengthening Resources for Midlife and Older Rural Women Who Experience Intimate Partner Violence”, Women and Aging.

Gill, C. 2014. “Foreward”, I hate feminists. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publisher.

Gill, C. 2013. "Le fémicide au Canada: Le cas du Nouveau-Brunswick". Nouvelles questions féministes. Vol. 32, no 1.

Gill, C. 2012. Domestic homicide in New Brunswick (1999-2008), Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for family violence research, December.

Gill, C. & L. Ruff. 2010. Moncton Provincial Court-Domestic Violence Pilot Project: A Comparative Study. Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for family violence research, March.

Gill, C. and L. Thériault. 2010. “Using conditional sentences in domestic violence cases: A New Brunswick Exploration”. Canadian Review of Social Policy. Fall 2009/Winter 2010, Number 63/64, pp. 83-101.

Tutty, L. George, D. Nixon, K. and C. Gill. 2008. “Women’s Views of Programs to Assist them with the Justice System”, In J. Ursel, L. Tutty & J. Lemaistre (Eds.). What's Law Got To do With it?: The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada, Toronto: Cormorant Press.

Thériault, L., and C. Gill. 2007. “Les déterminants sociaux de la santé et la violence conjugale: Quels sont les liens?,” In Service Social, vol. 53, no 1 (2007).

Gill, C. In collaboration with Berman, H., Jackson, M., Rondeau, G., Tutty, L. & J. Ursel. 2006. “Canadian observatory on the justice system’s response to intimate partner violence”. Atlantis. A Women’s Studies Journal. Vol. 30, no 3.

Gill, C. 2006. « Violence Between Intimate Partners: Understanding Theories and their Links to Intervention Strategies », in M.R. Hampton & N. Gerrard (Eds.). Intimate partner violence: reflections on experience, theory and policy. Toronto: Cormorant Books.

Supervision areas

Criminology, gender relations, families, violence in society, family violence, intimate partner violence, domestic homicide, justice system, police action/response, including assessment of risk, treatment program.

Please contact me to discuss possible supervision for undergraduate, MA, and PhD research projects.