Coercive Control Summary

Prior to the 1800’s, the majority of legal systems regarded ‘wife beating’ as a way in which a husband could assert his dominance and authority over his wife. Within the 1970’s, attention to domestic violence began with the woman’s movement, principally through the introduction of feminism and women’s rights. In recent years however, the way domestic violence is viewed has changed. Previously, domestic violence only occurred within marriage, predominantly against wives and therefore formalised through the use of a marriage contract. Within modern society, domestic violence can now refer to

Typically, domestic violence occurs between a man and a woman, and usually, women end up being the victims more often then men (Heidensohn, 2012). The male is usually more dominant because he is bigger and significantly stronger then the female. However, in recent years, men have been experiencing their fair share of abuse from women. According to a study done by the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men, “Over 90% experienced controlling behaviors, and several men reported frustrating experiences with the domestic violence system. Callers’ reports indicated that their female abusers had a history of trauma, alcohol/drug problems, mental ill- ness, and homicidal and suicidal ideations” (Hines, 2007). This study measured 190 male callers who called the DAHM and the study shows that women can also batter men. This applies to the case of Jordan Graham and Cody Johnson because a wife murdered her husband. No one should ever underestimate someone else’s strength or aggression as those characteristics can be extremely hard to gauge. Cody Johnson may have had no prior knowledge of Graham’s temper and may have even felt as if he were the dominant figure in their marriage. Sometimes, it is easy to accuse a spouse of being the core reason for domestic abuse, whether it is verbal or physical abuse. However, domestic abuse can be seen as a problem for human beings in general, “Others have argued that violence is a

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

Domestic violence is a crime that occurs regularly within the United States. It claims millions of victims each year. There is not a specific cause to establish why domestic violence occurs. However, it has been documented that domestic violence is a product of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and any other forms of torture or torment that the particular abuser wishes to employ to gain control or power over their victims (Gosselin, 2005). Due to the complexity of this crime, many criminologists and socialologists have studied its causes and the effects in order to determine social policies and additional theories to better understand the causation of domestic violence. The social policies and theories that are developed from

Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on

The Power and Control Wheel is a diagram that was created based on life experiences of 200 battered women (Van Wormer & Bednar, 2002). Ellen Pence surrounded the Power and Control Wheel with different approaches men use to sustain power and control in the relationship besides physical violence. Ellen believed that men not only desired power and control, but also felt they had the privilege of deserving power and control due to their gender (Batered Women’s Justice Project, 2016). According to Ellen’s research through the 200 battered women, the methodologies that men use are: coercion and threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, minimizing, denying and blaming, using children, using male privilege, in addition to economic abuse (Van Wormer & Bednar, 2002).

Many women and men seek intimate relationships in order to fill their emotional needs of security, safety and love. Their journey starts off with their loved ones spoiling them with flattering gifts and emotional words. The love they feel is so wonderful and deep that they believe that nothing can come between them. They are so happy and convinced that they will live happily ever after with the one they love. Unfortunately, the fairytale they have dreamt about was only temporary and soon comes to an end. The love story they have ones longed for turns into a horrible nightmare. The emotional words they were once spoiled with turn into howling screams and name-calling. The flattering gifts turn into physical abuse. This relationship is referred to as domestic violence or intimate partner violence. This happens when a partner or significant other declares power, authority and control over the other partner. To maintain this authority and control, the abusive partner uses emotional, physical or sexual abuse over his victim (Alters 27). Victims will desperately look for an exit out of this relationship, but only to be blocked by numerous walls of the despair, fear and misery. Many people are convinced that victims have the option of leaving, but they are too weak and they choose not to. What many people don 't know is, victims of domestic violence have many reasons preventing them from leaving their abusers. In most cases the outcomes of leaving are

This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.

There are several different types of domestic violence that affect people today. According to “justice.gov” (2014), domestic violence is a way for one partner to control the other partner. This control can be done sexually, physically, emotionally, economically, and psychologically. Any actions that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure or wound someone is a form of control and domestic violence. This gives us an understanding of what acts and intentions are a part of domestic violence and that it is not just physical abuse alone.

The history of Domestic Violence (DV) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) recognizes that abuse is not just an individual problem, but a social one. Our culture at one time reinforced the idea that violence within relationships was acceptable, and at the same time, blamed the abused for being victims. The way we think now about violence in the home has changed. Violence is a learned behavior that often is the result of months or years of intimidation and control. Contrary to belief, violence is no longer gender specific. Preventing Domestic Violence is important to me because of the physical and psychological effects it has on victims, the impact on families and communities, and the effectiveness of laws and resources.

Domestic Violence has always been an issue circulating women living in the United States. Alas, not many women realize the harm they are living because they are blinded by fear their partner creates for them to live by each and every day. Historically, many relationships and marriages have gone through many years of Domestic abuse, but yet have not recognized the signs of an abusive relationship. A 2014 survey ordained by the National Violence Against Women found that 25% of all women have been physically forced to have intimacy with their partner at some point during their relationship (Simmons, Catherine. A., et al. 2011). The changes within domestic abuse begin to occur with threats and verbal abuse, which later run the risk of involving

In his 2003 paper Jeffery Adler states, "social scientists generally link domestic violence to strains and tensions in gender relations, especially men's efforts to preserve masculine authority. According to many criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists, wife beating represents a "strategy of patriarchal power, typically employed either to discourage women from challenging men's authority or reign in those who stray from established or expected gender roles." (Adler, 2003) In 1995, Michael P Johnson introduced two distinct forms of domestic violence. One is where families suffer from occasional outbursts of violence from either husband or wives (common couple violence) While others are terrorized by systematic male violence (patriarchal terrorism). The distinction between the two is important because it has implications on how policy is implemented, the development of intervention strategies, and educational programs. (Johnson 1995)

Historically, domestic violence on females has evolved drastically. It used to be a norm for women to be objects of their fathers or husbands and lacked civil rights. In many cultures, domestic violence was not preceded as a crime. According to Marcia Chaiken’s article “Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice,” she explains the history of violence against women and how it has evolved through the centuries. Chaiken states how women experience physical and sexual violence by their intimate partners which leave harmful effects on mental and physical health, and their ability to live healthy and productive lives. In the past, men had the right to use physical force against their wives and forcing sex was considered a private relational problem. Forcing sex was sought as romance back in the day, not rape. Religions generally discouraged the act of physical abuse within relationships, but women had to obey the men because they lived under his roof. A common perception of the past was that a man’s home was inviolate and authorities cannot interfere with relationships. Around the 1960s, women

According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

Domestic violence refers to abusive behavior in any relationship that is inflicted on a partner to gain or maintain power and control over another partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological. Domestic violence includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender; and it also occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships; domestic violence also affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels (Justice, The United States Department of, 2017). This topic has attracted a lot of discussion and research because of its dominance and complexity. This essay, therefore seeks to look at the causes and effects of domestic violence.