‘Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. See: ĭefinition of coercive behaviour in Cafcass’s Domestic Abuse Practice Pathway The new definition would cover the concept of ‘economic abuse’ rather than simply financial abuse, which ‘can be restrictive in circumstances where victims may be denied access to basic resources such as food, clothing and transportation’. This is the definition also used within Practice Direction 12J on child contact arrangements and contact orders (MoJ, 2017) and Cafcass’s private law Domestic Abuse Practice Pathway, which slightly extends the definition of coercive behaviour.ġ In a consultation ahead of its draft Domestic Abuse Bill, in spring 2018 the Government proposed a slightly revised and statutory definition of domestic abuse, based on the cross-Government definition. ‘Coercive behaviour is a continuing act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.’ ‘Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.’ Overview of cross-governmental definitions (Home Office, 2015) 1 In the UK the Government has developed a definition of coercive and controlling behaviour. Beck et al (2009) outline how control is a pattern of behaviour that either partner may use to manipulate or influence the actions of the other. In various studies control is described as being goal-oriented or intentional behaviour by a perpetrator (Hamberger et al, 2017). Michael Johnson (1995, 2008) suggests a dualistic typology in which women are disproportionally affected by particular types of abuse, namely coercive control, which he describes as ‘intimate terrorism’. The origins of the term ‘coercive control’ are to be found in debates about the nature, extent and distribution of domestic abuse (Dobash and Dobash, 1992) and whether men and women experience it to similar levels (Straus, 1974). In the Duluth Model, physical violence is on the outer edge of the wheel it is a tactic that a perpetrator will use when the abusive behaviours do not work or as a way to ensure the threat of violence maintains the victim’s compliance. A number of themes/behaviours around the wheel – such as threats, intimidation, financial abuse and isolation – are the ways in which a perpetrator will seek to establish and sustain control and power over the victim. Power and control is central within the wheel. The model outlined the ‘Power and Control Wheel’ (see Appendix C) to describe the myriad of behaviours that perpetrators use to control victims of domestic abuse. This idea is the central point in one of the first conceptualisations of coercive control, as expressed in the Duluth Model in Minnesota (Pence and Paymar, 1993). Given its overlap with these other forms of abusive behaviour, it is useful to think of coercive control as an intention or goal and the types of abuse a perpetrator may use as tactics to develop or maintain that control. These include emotional abuse, psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment, emotional blackmail, psychological aggression, coercion and verbal abuse. Follingstad (2007) and Lammers et al (2005) note that a range of overlapping behaviours have significant similarities to the behaviours involved in coercive control. Other terms – such as ‘power and control’, ‘domination’ and ‘controlling behaviour’ – may also be used. The term ‘coercive control’ is not always directly used within research. Hamberger et al (2017) highlight how widespread this inconsistency is.
1.2 Defining coercive and controlling behaviourĬoercive and controlling behaviour is described and defined in different ways in the literature. This definition, and an overall shift nationally towards a greater understanding that domestic abuse often involves aspects other than physical violence, has led to the creation of a new legislative framework to criminalise coercive and controlling behaviour. ‘Domestic abuse also includes culturally specific forms of abuse including, but not limited to, forced marriage, honour-based violence, dowry-related abuse and transnational marriage abandonment.’ (Ministry of Justice, 2017)
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