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==Overview== ==Overview==
⚫ ] and abusers may control their victims with a range of tactics, including, but not limited to, ] (such as ], ], ], ], ]), ] (taking away aversive tasks or items), intermittent or partial reinforcement, ] (such as ], ]s, ], ], ]s) and traumatic tactics (such as ] or ]).<ref name=braiker>{{cite book |last1=Braiker |first1=Harriet B |title=Who's Pulling Your Strings?: How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation and Regain Control of Your Life |date=2003 |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |location=New York |isbn=9780071435680 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGwgiQvyeq0C |access-date=24 July 2021 |chapter=An Overview of Manipulation}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2021}}
Abusive power and control are forms of violence characterized by their continuity, insidiousness, and common prerequisite of intimate partner relationships. They are a pattern of domination through which the abuser uses coercive and controlling tactics, which may or may not involve physical, psychological, or sexual violence, to entrap their victim. Professor Evan Stark has demonstrated that coercive control is gendered, in that it is mostly{{quantify|date=September 2023}} men who resort to it against their female intimate partners.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elliott |first=Karla |date=2017 |title=Research Brief: Coercive Control |url=https://arts.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/1530343/rb-coercive-control.pdf |access-date=24 May 2023 |website=Monash and Gender Family Violence}}</ref> Professor Janet Mosher refers to it as the "micro-regulation of women's everyday lives".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Janet |date=2015 |title=Grounding Access to Justice Theory and Practice in the Experiences of Women Abused by Their Intimate Partners |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3527&context=scholarly_works |journal=Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=154 |doi=10.22329/wyaj.v32i2.4688 |via=Digital Commons}}</ref> The tactics deployed by the abuser can comprise ], threats, ], physical force, surveillance, ], insults, and other means. Researchers Andy Myhill and Katrin Hohl have explained coercive control as a "golden thread" connecting all these instances of intimate partner abuse.<ref name="Myhill & Hohl">{{Cite journal |last1=Myhill |first1=Andy |last2=Hohl |first2=Katrin |date=2016 |title=The "Golden Thread": Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260516675464 |journal=Journal of Interpersonal Violence |volume=34 |issue=21–22 |pages=4477–4497 |doi=10.1177/0886260516675464 |pmid=27807208 |s2cid=1752597 |via=SAGE Journals}}</ref>


element of coercive control is that it consists in a pattern, thus connecting multiple occurrences of abuse that may not be of the same nature.<ref name="Myhill & Hohl" />
Evan Stark first coined the concept of coercive control in his 2007 text ''Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life.''<ref>Evan Stark. .Oxford University Press (April 16, 2007).{{ISBN|978-0195154276}}</ref> He defines coercive control as "an ongoing pattern of domination by which male abusive partners primarily interweave repeated physical and sexual violence with intimidation, sexual degradation, isolation and control. The primary outcome of coercive control is a condition of entrapment that can be hostage-like in the harms it inflicts on dignity, liberty, autonomy and personhood as well as physical and psychological integrity".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stark |first=Evan |date=2012 |title=Re-presenting Battered Women: Coercive Control and the Defense of Liberty |url=https://www.stopvaw.org/uploads/evan_stark_article_final_100812.pdf |access-date=25 May 2023}}</ref> This leads the victim to experience isolation, self-blame, and a loss of their sense of self and of their independence. Some victims have reported high levels of anxiety and panic attacks. <ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Lux |first1=Glenda |last2=Gill |first2=Sandy |date=22 September 2021 |title=Identifying Coercive Control in Canadian Family Law: A Required Analysis in Determining the Best Interests of the Child |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fcre.12540 |journal=Family Court Review |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=815 |doi=10.1111/fcre.12540 |s2cid=244253232 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref>

⚫ Researchers Isabelle Côté and Simon Lapierre have characterized coercive control as "everyday micro-regulations" .<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=Isabelle |last2=Lapierre |first2=Simon |date=2021 |title=Pour une intégration du contrôle coercitif dans les pratiques d'intervention en matière de violence conjugale au Québec |url=https://revueintervention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ri_153_2021.2_Cote_Lapierre.pdf |journal=Intervention |issue=153 |pages=115}}</ref> Abusers may control their victims with a range of tactics, including, but not limited to, ] (such as ], ], ], ], ]), ] (taking away aversive tasks or items), intermittent or partial reinforcement, ] (such as ], ]s, ], ], ]s) and traumatic tactics (such as ] or ]).<ref name="braiker">{{cite book |last1=Braiker |first1=Harriet B |title=Who's Pulling Your Strings?: How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation and Regain Control of Your Life |date=2003 |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |location=New York |isbn=9780071435680 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGwgiQvyeq0C |access-date=24 July 2021 |chapter=An Overview of Manipulation}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2021}} The key element of coercive control is that it consists in a pattern, thus connecting multiple occurrences of abuse that may not be of the same nature.<ref name="Myhill & Hohl" />

Coercive control may also be extremely subtle and insidious, and depleted of incidents of physical or sexual violence. It can exclusively consist of psychological tactics, such as gaslighting or guilt-tripping, with the common effect that the victim is constantly "walking on eggshells".<ref name=":03" /> Understanding coercive control prevents interveners from wrongfully focusing on "isolated" events of physical violence, and enables the understanding of abuse as a general, persistent dynamic in a relationship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Janet |date=2015 |title=Grounding Access to Justice Theory and Practice in the Experiences of Women Abused by Their Intimate Partners |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3527&context=scholarly_works |journal=Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=153–157 |doi=10.22329/wyaj.v32i2.4688 |via=Osgoode Digital Commons}}</ref> Hence, Côté and Lapierre note that coercive control may include acts of physical violence, although not necessarily. If it does occur, violence is not a distinct or exceptional event in the relation dynamics: rather, it is a tool deployed by the abuser to better control the victim. In other words, the abuser may threaten to use force, and sometimes use it, as a strategy to create a climate of terror and reassert control.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=Isabelle |last2=Lapierre |first2=Simon |date=2021 |title=Pour une intégration du contrôle coercitif dans les pratiques d'intervention en matière de violence conjugale au Québec |url=https://revueintervention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ri_153_2021.2_Cote_Lapierre.pdf |journal=Intervention |volume=32 |pages=117}}</ref> Plus, a single instance of physical violence can "be enough to terrorize a victim for several years".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=Isabelle |last2=Lapierre |first2=Simon |date=2021 |title=Pour une intégration du contrôle coercitif dans les pratiques d'intervention en matière de violence conjugale au Québec |url=https://revueintervention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ri_153_2021.2_Cote_Lapierre.pdf |journal=Intervention |volume=32 |pages=122}}</ref>


The ] of the victim are exploited, with those who are particularly vulnerable being most often selected as targets.<ref name="braiker" />{{rp|3}}<ref name="simon">{{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=George K. |title=In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People |date=1996 |publisher=A.J. Christopher |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |isbn=9780965169608 |edition=revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MV-fjg3baSoC |chapter=Recognizing the Tactics of Manipulation and Control}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Psychopathology of Everyday Life: How to Deal with Manipulative People |first=Martin|last=Kantor |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-275-98798-5}}</ref> ] can occur between abusers and victims as the result of ongoing ] in which the intermittent reinforcement of ] and punishment creates powerful emotional bonds (that are resistant to change) and a ].<ref name="Sanderson">{{cite book | last=Sanderson | first=C. | title=Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse | publisher=] | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-84642-811-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vA42Opyx9cC | access-date=28 November 2021 | page=}}</ref> An attempt may be made to ], ], ], ], or ] the abusive behavior, or to ] for it.<ref name="CrossonTower208">{{Cite book|title= Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect |first= Cynthia |last=Crosson-Tower |isbn=0-205-40183-X |publisher=Allyn & Bacon |year=2005|page=208}}</ref><ref name="Ferraro">{{cite book|author=Monique Mattei Ferraro|author2=Eoghan Casey|author3=Michael McGrath|title=Investigating Child Exploitation and Pornography: The Internet, the Law and Forensic Science |publisher=]|isbn=0121631052|year=2005|page=159|access-date=April 6, 2016|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BtjzJhcAAGYC&pg=PA159}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christiane Sanderson|title= Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse|publisher=]|isbn= 1843103354|year= 2006|access-date=April 6, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hpq-SvwKtkUC&pg=PA30}}</ref> The ] of the victim are exploited, with those who are particularly vulnerable being most often selected as targets.<ref name="braiker" />{{rp|3}}<ref name="simon">{{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=George K. |title=In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People |date=1996 |publisher=A.J. Christopher |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |isbn=9780965169608 |edition=revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MV-fjg3baSoC |chapter=Recognizing the Tactics of Manipulation and Control}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Psychopathology of Everyday Life: How to Deal with Manipulative People |first=Martin|last=Kantor |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-275-98798-5}}</ref> ] can occur between abusers and victims as the result of ongoing ] in which the intermittent reinforcement of ] and punishment creates powerful emotional bonds (that are resistant to change) and a ].<ref name="Sanderson">{{cite book | last=Sanderson | first=C. | title=Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse | publisher=] | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-84642-811-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vA42Opyx9cC | access-date=28 November 2021 | page=}}</ref> An attempt may be made to ], ], ], ], or ] the abusive behavior, or to ] for it.<ref name="CrossonTower208">{{Cite book|title= Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect |first= Cynthia |last=Crosson-Tower |isbn=0-205-40183-X |publisher=Allyn & Bacon |year=2005|page=208}}</ref><ref name="Ferraro">{{cite book|author=Monique Mattei Ferraro|author2=Eoghan Casey|author3=Michael McGrath|title=Investigating Child Exploitation and Pornography: The Internet, the Law and Forensic Science |publisher=]|isbn=0121631052|year=2005|page=159|access-date=April 6, 2016|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BtjzJhcAAGYC&pg=PA159}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christiane Sanderson|title= Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse|publisher=]|isbn= 1843103354|year= 2006|access-date=April 6, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hpq-SvwKtkUC&pg=PA30}}</ref>


Based on statistical evidence, certain personality disorders correlate with abusive tendencies of individuals with those specific personality disorders when also compiled with abusive childhoods themselves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1= Miller |first1= Paul M.|last2=Lisak|first2=David|date=1999-06-01|title=Associations Between Childhood Abuse and Personality Disorder Symptoms in College Males|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/088626099014006005|journal=Journal of Interpersonal Violence|language=en|volume=14|issue=6|pages=642–656|doi= 10.1177/088626099014006005|s2cid= 144858964 |issn=0886-2605}}</ref> {{Failed verification|date=November 2022}}
==Tactics of coercive control==


==Personality disorders==
Coercive control is a cumulation of abusive tactics, and as such those tactics exist in relation to one another. For instance, an individual accusing their partner of infidelity does not amount to coercive control if it occurs on a single occasion in an otherwise healthy relationship. It will be constitutive of coercive control if it is a part of a larger pattern of humiliation, micro-management and isolation.
In the study of ], certain ] display characteristics involving the need to gain ] or control over others:<ref>Larsen, Randy J., and ]. ''Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature''. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. ISBN 978-0073370682</ref> There are many different types of personality disorders and they are often characterized by 3 clusters. Individuals with cluster B personality disorders might be more prone to some negative behaviors related to having power and control over others. Cluster B includes narcissistic, histrionic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorder. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Personality disorders - Symptoms and causes |url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20354463 |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=Mayo Clinic |language=en}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=Isabelle |last2=Lapierre |first2=Simon |date=2021 |title=Pour une intégration du contrôle coercitif dans les pratiques d'intervention en matière de violence conjugale au Québec |url=https://revueintervention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ri_153_2021.2_Cote_Lapierre.pdf |journal=Intervention |issue=153}}</ref>


* Individuals with ] tend to display a superficial charm that helps to disarm others, giving a good likable first impression. If someone likes another person, they're much more apt to comply with them. Because they lack empathy, they see other people as instruments and pawns. The effects of this lack of empathy essentially gives them a ] sense of ]. Due to their ], they are well suited to con and/or ] others into complying with their wishes.
== Adverse impacts of coercive control on children ==
In a familial context, coercive control is a harmful parental choice as it is detrimental to children. Children are oftentimes exposed to the abuse that their parent sustains, and may be targeted or used by their father to control their mother.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stark |first1=Evan |last2=Hester |first2=Marianne |date=2019 |title=Coercive Control: Update and Review |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077801218816191 |journal=Violence Against Women |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=96–99 |doi=10.1177/1077801218816191 |pmid=30803427 |s2cid=73460589 |via=Sage}}</ref> For example, a qualitative study conducted in the United Kingdom revealed that abusive fathers often prevent their children from interacting with their mothers and grandparents, from visiting their friends and from participating to extra-curriculars. Scholar Emma Katz has reflected that coercive control places children in an "isolated, disempowering and constrained world" which can prevent their emotional growth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Katz |first=Emma |date=24 November 2015 |title=Beyond the Physical Incident Model: How Children Living with Domestic Violence are Harmed By and Resist Regimes of Coercive Control |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/car.2422 |journal=Child Abuse Review |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=46–59 |doi=10.1002/car.2422 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref> Another study has documented how the abusive parent sometimes achieves control by recruiting children to undermine their relationship with their mother and further isolate her within the family unit. <blockquote>The study highlights how a perpetrator may "joke and play, spend money on them , or take them out to do things" in order to form an alliance, which can result in children seeing the abusive parent as "fun" and blaming the non-abusive parent for the abuse.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=McLeod |first=Danielle |date=2018 |title=Coercive control: Impacts on children and young people in the family environment |url=https://training.solihulllscp.co.uk/CoursesDocument/Coercive_control_Impacts.pdf |access-date=24 May 2023 |website=SafeLives}}</ref></blockquote>Plus, children are deprived from the emotional availability of their abused parent. Therapist Danielle McLeod has explained how an abusive father may "undermine the victim's parental role" and attack their children's respect for their mother. This tactic "will often leave them feeling emotionally drained and distant and as though they have little left to give as a parent".<ref name=":3" />


* Individuals with ] tend to display ] and are sensitive to others' attitudes toward them. Being so averse to rejection may give them motivation to gain compliance in order to control perceptions of others.
== Risk factors ==
* Individuals with ] need to be the ]; and in turn, draw people in so they may use (and eventually dispose of) their relationship.
It is mostly men who subject their partners to coercive control.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stark |first1=Evan |last2=Hester |first2=Marianne |title=Coercive Control: Update and Review |journal=Violence Against Women |date=January 2019 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=81–104 |doi=10.1177/1077801218816191|pmid=30803427 |s2cid=73460589 }}</ref> This violence often persists in a post-separation context. Breakup is an especially dangerous event for women who experience coercive control, as they then become at risk of intensified control and serious violence, including ] and ].<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=Isabelle |last2=Lapierre |first2=Simon |date=2021 |title=Pour une intégration du contrôle coercitif dans les pratiques d'intervention en matière de violence conjugale au Québec |url=https://revueintervention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ri_153_2021.2_Cote_Lapierre.pdf |journal=Intervention |issue=153}}</ref>
* Individuals with ] have an inflated self-importance, hypersensitivity to ], and a sense of ] that compels them to ] others to comply with their requests. To maintain their ], and protect their vulnerable ], ] need to control the behavior of others – particularly that of ] seen as extensions of themselves.<ref name="co">Rappoport, Alan, Ph. D. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811150356/http://alanrappoport.com/pdf/Co-Narcissism%20Article.pdf |date=2015-08-11 }}.</ref>
* Individuals with ] derive pleasure from the distress caused by their aggressive, demeaning, and cruel behavior toward others. They have poor ability to control their reactions and become enraged by minor disturbances, with some sadists being more severely abusive. They use a wide range of behaviors to inappropriately control others, ranging from ], ]s, ], ], and restricting the ] of others. Often the purpose of their behavior is to control and intimidate others.<ref name="Raine pp. 126-128">Adrian Raine; José Sanmartin</ref>{{full citation needed |date=June 2022}} The sadistic individuals are likely rigid in their beliefs, ] of other ] or other "]s", ], and ]. They may seek positions in which they are able to exert power over others, such as a ], ] ], or ] who misuse their positions of power to control or brutalize others. For instance, a psychiatrist may institutionalize a patient by misusing ].<ref name="Raine pp. 126-128" />


== Law == == Law ==
In ], the ] created a criminal offence for controlling or coercive behavior in an intimate or family relationship.<ref> 05 Dec 2015 '']''</ref><ref> ''Daily Echo'' 27 Mar 2019</ref> For the purposes of this offence, the coercive behaviour must have been engaged in "repeatedly or continuously".<ref> 05 Dec 2015 '']''</ref> Another element of the offence is that it must have had, or have, a "serious effect"<ref> 05 Dec 2015 '']''</ref> on the victim. One way this can be proved, is that the coercive behaviour can be shown to have caused the victim to fear violence on at least two occasions, or for it to have had, or have, a "substantial adverse effect on the victims’ day to day activities".<ref> 05 Dec 2015 '']''</ref> The prosecution should be able to show that there was intent to control or coerce the targeted person in some manner.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship|url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/controlling-or-coercive-behaviour-intimate-or-family-relationship|website=CPS.gov.uk}} ] Text was copied from this source, which is available under an . © Crown copyright.</ref> In 2019, the UK government made teaching about what coercive control was a mandatory part of the education syllabus on relationships.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Price |first1=Hannah |title=Coercive control: 'I was 16 and thought it was normal' |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/f2b92a97-66d8-42b5-8d70-6a38c29b82e1 |website=BBC |date=27 October 2020 |access-date=October 27, 2020}}</ref>
Jurisdictions have legislated over coercive control, mostly through family law and criminal law.


⚫ In 2019, Ireland enacted the Domestic Violence Act 2018, which allowed for the practice of coercive control to be identifiable based upon its effects on the victim. On this basis, it was defined as 'any evidence of deterioration in the physical, psychological, or emotional welfare of the applicant or a dependent person which is caused directly by fear of the behaviour of the respondent.'.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Baumann, J.D. |first1=Mark |title=Coercive control and emotional abuse illegal in U.K., France, Ireland –and Clallam? |url=https://clallamcountybar.com/coercive-control-and-emotional-abuse-illegal-in-u-k-france-ireland-clallam-county/ |website= Clallam County Bar Clallam County lawyers & legal news |access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref>
=== Canada ===
In 2019, the federal parliament amended the ], in which it included coercive control. The new Divorce Act redefines family violence to integrate any conduct "that constitutes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour". The definition provides a non-exhaustive list of examples of coercive control, among which forced confinement, harassment (including stalking), the failure to provide the necessities of life, psychological abuse, financial abuse, and threats or infliction of harming or killing of an animal or damage of property.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Divorce Act |url=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/d-3.4/page-1.html |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Government of Canada}}</ref>


The Divorce Act now requires that courts take the presence of coercive control into account upon determining the best interest of the child, which may influence the courts' determination regarding child custody.<ref><abbr>R.S.C.</abbr>, 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.), ss. 6(3)j) + 16(4)b)</ref> Upon these changes, the Department of Justice noted: " while all violence is of concern, generally the most serious type of violence in family law is coercive and controlling violence. This is because it is part of an ongoing pattern, tends to be more dangerous and is more likely to affect parenting."<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 2021 |title=The Divorce Act Changes Explained |url=https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/cfl-mdf/dace-clde/div62.html |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Government of Canada}}</ref>

=== France ===
In 2010, the French Parliament amended the Penal Code to include psychological violence in the offence of willful attacks against the integrity of a person.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Code pénal : Paragraphe 2 : Des violences (Articles 222-7 à 222-16-3) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070719/LEGISCTA000006181751/#LEGISCTA000006181751 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref> A new provision specifies that moral harassment can be the act of harassing an intimate partner by repeated remarks or behaviour aimed at or resulting in the deterioration of their living conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Code pénal : Section 5 : Du harcèlement moral (Articles 222-33-2 à 222-33-2-3) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070719/LEGISCTA000006165282/#LEGISCTA000006165282 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref>

In 2020, the Penal Code was further amended to increase the penalties for malicious and repetitive communications issued with the aim to disturb the tranquillity of others.<ref name=":0" /> The invasion of privacy by geolocation without consent is now punished.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Code pénal : Section 1 : De l'atteinte à la vie privée (Articles 226-1 à 226-7) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070719/LEGISCTA000006165309/?anchor=LEGIARTI000042193566#LEGIARTI000042193566 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref> The act of usurping someone's identity or using data of any kind with the goal of disturbing their peace or undermining their honour is also criminalised.<ref name=":1" /> The French Parliament has also criminalised the act, committed in bad faith, of infringing the secrecy of correspondence by intercepting or disclosing electronic communications or installing services that allow such interceptions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Code pénal : Paragraphe 2 : De l'atteinte au secret des correspondances (Article 226-15) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070719/LEGISCTA000006181757/?anchor=LEGIARTI000042193573#LEGIARTI000042193573 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref> All of these offences are more severely sanctioned if they are committed in a marital context.

French family law also implicitly addresses coercive control. Since 2010, the Civil Code provides that a court ruling on the terms of the exercise of parental authority must consider the violence, physical or psychological, that one parent inflicts on another.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Code civil : Paragraphe 3 : De l'intervention du juge aux affaires familiales ... (Articles 373-2-6 à 373-2-13) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070721/LEGISCTA000006165500/?anchor=LEGIARTI000022469784#LEGIARTI000022469784 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref> In 2020, the French Parliament withdrew the obligation of mediation within a divorce proceeding in cases where there are allegations of violence or manifest influence of one spouse over the other.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Code civil : Paragraphe 2 : Des mesures provisoires. (Articles 254 à 256) |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070721/LEGISCTA000006165746/?anchor=LEGIARTI000042193461#LEGIARTI000042193461 |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Légifrance}}</ref>

=== Ireland ===
⚫ In 2019, Ireland enacted the Domestic Violence Act 2018. Coercive control was defined as "any evidence of deterioration in the physical, psychological, or emotional welfare of the applicant or a dependent person which is caused directly by fear of the behaviour of the respondent".<ref>{{cite web |last1= Baumann, J.D. |first1=Mark |title=Coercive control and emotional abuse illegal in U.K., France, Ireland –and Clallam? |url=https://clallamcountybar.com/coercive-control-and-emotional-abuse-illegal-in-u-k-france-ireland-clallam-county/ |website= Clallam County Bar Clallam County lawyers & legal news |date=2 January 2019 |access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
==== England and Wales ====
Coercive control is criminalised by section 76 of the '']''. This provision is often cited as the first example of criminalization of coercive control. The offence is attentive to the serious effect of controlling or coercive behaviour, and as such occurs when the behaviour causes the victim to fear they will experience violence on more than one occasion, or if the victim is seriously alarmed or distressed to the point of having adverse effects on their day-to-day activities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Serious Crime Act 2015 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/9/contents/enacted |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

The ''Serious Crimes Act 2015'' was supplemented by a ''Statutory Guidance Framework on Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship''. The document provides a non-exhaustive list of types of behaviour associated with coercive behaviour.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 2015 |title=Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship: Statutory Guidance Framework |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482528/Controlling_or_coercive_behaviour_-_statutory_guidance.pdf |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=Home Office}}</ref>

The '']'' defines domestic abuse as controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological, emotional or other abuse. Economic abuse intersects with coercive control as it designates any behaviour with substantial adverse effects on the victim's ability to acquire, use, or maintain money or other property or obtain goods and services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Domestic Abuse Act 2021 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/17/section/1/enacted |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

==== Scotland ====
The ''Domestic Abuse Act 2018'' criminalises domestic violence, which implicitly includes coercive control. Abusive behaviour is defined as a "course of behaviour" which intentionally or recklessly causes a partner or an ex-partner to suffer psychological or physical harm. Its relevant effects are designated as making the victim dependent or subordinate; isolating the victim from their support network; controlling, regulating and monitoring the victim's day-to-day activities; depriving or restricting the victim's freedom of action; and frightening, humiliating, degrading or punishing the victim. The offence can also happen by way of conduct towards property, and by intentional omissions rather than solely actions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2018/5/part/1/enacted |access-date=24 May 2023 |website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

=== United States ===
In the United States, to assist in preventing and stopping domestic violence against children, there have been laws put into place to mandate report in specific professions, such as teacher, doctor, or care provider, any suspected abuse happening in the home.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hyman|first1=Ariella|last2=Schillinger|first2=Dean|last3=Lo|first3=Bernard|date=1995-06-14|title=Laws Mandating Reporting of Domestic Violence: Do They Promote Patient Well-being?|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/388829|journal=JAMA|language=en|volume=273|issue=22|pages=1781–1787|doi=10.1001/jama.1995.03520460063037|pmid=7769774|issn=0098-7484}}</ref> In the United States, to assist in preventing and stopping domestic violence against children, there have been laws put into place to mandate report in specific professions, such as teacher, doctor, or care provider, any suspected abuse happening in the home.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hyman|first1=Ariella|last2=Schillinger|first2=Dean|last3=Lo|first3=Bernard|date=1995-06-14|title=Laws Mandating Reporting of Domestic Violence: Do They Promote Patient Well-being?|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/388829|journal=JAMA|language=en|volume=273|issue=22|pages=1781–1787|doi=10.1001/jama.1995.03520460063037|pmid=7769774|issn=0098-7484}}</ref>


Family law is mostly under the jurisdiction of state and local governments in the United States. As such, states are unequally tackling coercive control through legislation. Family law is mostly under the jurisdiction of state and local governments in the United States. As such, states are unequally tackling coercive control through legislation.

== Critics of state response to coercive control ==
Professor Janet E. Mosher calls the lack of a nuanced understanding of domestic violence an access to justice issue for victims. She identifies that this issue is widespread across all legal system actors. Mosher takes issue with "the enduring hold of an incident-based understanding of domestic violence", through which legal actors focus on discrete incidents of visible physical violence rather than abusive patterns, which may or may not involve physical violence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Janet |date=2015 |title=Grounding Access to Justice Theory and Practice in the Experiences of Women Abused by Their Intimate Partners |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3527&context=scholarly_works |journal=Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=153–157 |doi=10.22329/wyaj.v32i2.4688 |via=Osgoode Digital Commons}}</ref>

Mosher has also documented "the failure of legal actors to curb men's strategic use of legal systems to further their power". Abusive men may strategically engage with the legal system to retaliate for a separation and/or to further their control. Examples of this include procedural abuses, self-representing to cross-examine an ex-partner, and dragging out proceedings to deplete the survivor of their financial and emotional resources and to impede the resolution of conflict.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Lux |first1=Glenda |last2=Gill |first2=Sandy |date=22 September 2021 |title=Identifying Coercive Control in Canadian Family Law: A Required Analysis in Determining the Best Interests of the Child |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fcre.12540 |journal=Family Court Review |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=815 |doi=10.1111/fcre.12540 |s2cid=244253232 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Janet |date=2015 |title=Grounding Access to Justice Theory and Practice in the Experiences of Women Abused by Their Intimate Partners |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3527&context=scholarly_works |journal=Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=150–51, 158 |doi=10.22329/wyaj.v32i2.4688 |via=Osgoode Digital Commons}}</ref>

Another example of this manipulation of legal processes is the non-empirical ], through which abusive men are enabled by the legal system to deflect the blame of their abuse onto their ex-partner. In the words of legal scholar Suzanne Zaccour, the parental alienation syndrome theory is used "to explain a child's refusal to see a parent (often the father)", and "has led courts to order sometimes drastic custody transfers and prevent any contact with the child's preferred parent". Zaccour has documented that domestic violence is prevalent in parental alienation cases, and that courts fail to identify the violence that mothers try to protect their children and themselves from. In doing so, courts obliterate domestic violence and punish mothers for "alienating" their children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zaccour |first=Suzanne |date=2020 |title=Does Domestic Violence Disappear from Parental Alienation Cases? Five Lessons from Quebec for Judges, Scholars, and Policymakers |url=https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=can-j-fam-l |journal=Canadian Journal of Family Law |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages= 307, 312, 342, 347|via=Family Law Commons}}</ref>

Relatedly, experts Nico Trocmé and Nicholas Bala have observed: "There is widespread misperception that there is a high incidence of intentionally false allegations of child abuse made by mothers in the context of parental separation and divorce in order to gain a tactical advantage or to seek revenge from their estranged partners". In their landmark study, Trocmé and Bala found fabricated cases of child abuse were rare, and that fathers were about 16X more likely than mothers to make false allegations against their co-parent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Trocmé |first1=Nico |last2=Bala |first2=Nicholas |date=December 2005 |title=False allegations of abuse and neglect when parents separate |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213405002590 |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |volume=29 |issue=12 |pages=1333–1345 |doi=10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.06.016 |pmid=16293307 |via=ScienceDirect}}</ref>

Mosher has also denounced "the host of complications that arise when women navigate multiple intersecting legal systems", a phenomenon also referred to as "legal fragmentation". Victims must engage with various courts when they report their abuse.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Janet |date=2015 |title=Grounding Access to Justice Theory and Practice in the Experiences of Women Abused by Their Intimate Partners |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3527&context=scholarly_works |journal=Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=150-151, 159-177 |doi=10.22329/wyaj.v32i2.4688 |via=Osgoode Digital Commons}}</ref> For example, the same set of facts may give rise to proceedings in a criminal court, a youth protection court, and a civil court, which requires victims to recount their abuse multiple times and may result in contradictory judicial decisions.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lalande |first1=Célyne |last2=Gauthier |first2=Sonia |date=2016 |title=Répondre aux problèmes d'arrimage entre les tribunaux en présence de violence conjugale |url=https://www.trajetvi.ca/files/publications/1461159647_fiche-synth-se-r-pondre-aux-probl-mes-d-arrimage.pdf |access-date=25 May 2023 |website=TrajetVi}}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==

Revision as of 00:50, 24 October 2023

Aspect of personal relationships

Relationships
(Outline)
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By marriage
Partner(s)
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Abuse

Abusive power and control (also controlling behavior and coercive control) is behavior used by an abusive person to gain and/or maintain control over another person. Abusers are commonly motivated by devaluation, personal gain, personal gratification, psychological projection, or the enjoyment of exercising power and control. The victims of this behavior are often subject to psychological, physical, mental, sexual, or financial abuse.

Overview

Manipulators and abusers may control their victims with a range of tactics, including, but not limited to, positive reinforcement (such as praise, superficial charm, flattery, ingratiation, love bombing), negative reinforcement (taking away aversive tasks or items), intermittent or partial reinforcement, psychological punishment (such as silent treatment, threats, intimidation, emotional blackmail, guilt trips) and traumatic tactics (such as verbal abuse or explosive anger).

element of coercive control is that it consists in a pattern, thus connecting multiple occurrences of abuse that may not be of the same nature.

The vulnerabilities of the victim are exploited, with those who are particularly vulnerable being most often selected as targets. Traumatic bonding can occur between abusers and victims as the result of ongoing cycles of abuse in which the intermittent reinforcement of reward and punishment creates powerful emotional bonds (that are resistant to change) and a climate of fear. An attempt may be made to normalize, legitimize, rationalize, deny, or minimize the abusive behavior, or to blame the victim for it.

Based on statistical evidence, certain personality disorders correlate with abusive tendencies of individuals with those specific personality disorders when also compiled with abusive childhoods themselves.

Personality disorders

In the study of abnormal psychology, certain personality disorders display characteristics involving the need to gain compliance or control over others: There are many different types of personality disorders and they are often characterized by 3 clusters. Individuals with cluster B personality disorders might be more prone to some negative behaviors related to having power and control over others. Cluster B includes narcissistic, histrionic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorder.

  • Individuals with antisocial personality disorder tend to display a superficial charm that helps to disarm others, giving a good likable first impression. If someone likes another person, they're much more apt to comply with them. Because they lack empathy, they see other people as instruments and pawns. The effects of this lack of empathy essentially gives them a grandiose sense of self-worth. Due to their callous and unemotional traits, they are well suited to con and/or manipulate others into complying with their wishes.

Law

In England and Wales, the Serious Crime Act 2015 created a criminal offence for controlling or coercive behavior in an intimate or family relationship. For the purposes of this offence, the coercive behaviour must have been engaged in "repeatedly or continuously". Another element of the offence is that it must have had, or have, a "serious effect" on the victim. One way this can be proved, is that the coercive behaviour can be shown to have caused the victim to fear violence on at least two occasions, or for it to have had, or have, a "substantial adverse effect on the victims’ day to day activities". The prosecution should be able to show that there was intent to control or coerce the targeted person in some manner. In 2019, the UK government made teaching about what coercive control was a mandatory part of the education syllabus on relationships.

In 2019, Ireland enacted the Domestic Violence Act 2018, which allowed for the practice of coercive control to be identifiable based upon its effects on the victim. On this basis, it was defined as 'any evidence of deterioration in the physical, psychological, or emotional welfare of the applicant or a dependent person which is caused directly by fear of the behaviour of the respondent.'.

In the United States, to assist in preventing and stopping domestic violence against children, there have been laws put into place to mandate report in specific professions, such as teacher, doctor, or care provider, any suspected abuse happening in the home.

Family law is mostly under the jurisdiction of state and local governments in the United States. As such, states are unequally tackling coercive control through legislation.

See also

References

  1. Lehmann, Peter; Simmons, Catherine A.; Pillai, Vijayan K. (2012-08-01). "The Validation of the Checklist of Controlling Behaviors (CCB): Assessing Coercive Control in Abusive Relationships". Violence Against Women. 18 (8): 913–933. doi:10.1177/1077801212456522. ISSN 1077-8012. PMID 23008428. S2CID 39673421.
  2. ^ Braiker, Harriet B (2003). "An Overview of Manipulation". Who's Pulling Your Strings?: How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation and Regain Control of Your Life. New York: McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071435680. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  3. Cite error: The named reference Myhill & Hohl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. Simon, George K. (1996). "Recognizing the Tactics of Manipulation and Control". In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People (revised ed.). Little Rock, Arkansas: A.J. Christopher. ISBN 9780965169608.
  5. Kantor, Martin (2006). The Psychopathology of Everyday Life: How to Deal with Manipulative People. ISBN 978-0-275-98798-5.
  6. Sanderson, C. (2008). Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84642-811-1. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  7. Crosson-Tower, Cynthia (2005). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Allyn & Bacon. p. 208. ISBN 0-205-40183-X.
  8. Monique Mattei Ferraro; Eoghan Casey; Michael McGrath (2005). Investigating Child Exploitation and Pornography: The Internet, the Law and Forensic Science. Academic Press. p. 159. ISBN 0121631052. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  9. Christiane Sanderson (2006). Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 1843103354. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  10. Miller, Paul M.; Lisak, David (1999-06-01). "Associations Between Childhood Abuse and Personality Disorder Symptoms in College Males". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 14 (6): 642–656. doi:10.1177/088626099014006005. ISSN 0886-2605. S2CID 144858964.
  11. Larsen, Randy J., and David M. Buss. Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. ISBN 978-0073370682
  12. "Personality disorders - Symptoms and causes". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  13. Rappoport, Alan, Ph. D."Co-Narcissism: How We Adapt to Narcissism". The Therapist, 2005 Archived 2015-08-11 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ^ Adrian Raine; José Sanmartin
  15. Statutory guidance framework: controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship 05 Dec 2015 gov.uk
  16. "University graduate from Poole admits controlling and coercive behaviour" Daily Echo 27 Mar 2019
  17. Statutory guidance framework: controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship 05 Dec 2015 gov.uk
  18. Statutory guidance framework: controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship 05 Dec 2015 gov.uk
  19. Statutory guidance framework: controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship 05 Dec 2015 gov.uk
  20. "Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship". CPS.gov.uk. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v2.0. © Crown copyright.
  21. Price, Hannah (27 October 2020). "Coercive control: 'I was 16 and thought it was normal'". BBC. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  22. Baumann, J.D., Mark. "Coercive control and emotional abuse illegal in U.K., France, Ireland –and Clallam?". Clallam County Bar Clallam County lawyers & legal news. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  23. Hyman, Ariella; Schillinger, Dean; Lo, Bernard (1995-06-14). "Laws Mandating Reporting of Domestic Violence: Do They Promote Patient Well-being?". JAMA. 273 (22): 1781–1787. doi:10.1001/jama.1995.03520460063037. ISSN 0098-7484. PMID 7769774.

External links

Juripop, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Free Training Programs)

West Island Women Shelter (2020), Coercive Control: Screening Questionnaire and Evaluation Grid


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  1. "Domestic and Sexual Violence: Free Training Programs". Juripop. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  2. "Coercive Control: Screening Questionnaire and Evaluation Grid" (PDF). West Island Women's Shelter. 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
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