PoWER to shine spotlight on coercive control

Dr Tanya Beetham, Dr Emma Turley and Lois Catrin Donnelly explain what coercive control is, what effect criminalisation of coercive control has had and what the Psychology of Women and Equalities Section is looking for in submissions.

What is coercive control?

As a result of sustained campaigns from scholars and organisations such as Women's Aid, coercive and controlling behaviour became recognised by the UK government as a criminal offence in England and Wales in the Serious Crime Act 2015. In 2018 the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act and Domestic Violence Act in Ireland were passed, which also categorised coercive control as an offence. Coercive or controlling behaviour is defined under this legislation as behaviour that 'does not relate to a single incident, it is a purposeful pattern of incidents that occur over time in order for one individual to exert power, control or coercion over another'. 

What impact has criminalising coercive control had?

Since the criminalisation of coercive control, the number of recorded offences has risen year by year in England and Wales. In 2016/17 there were 4,246 recorded cases, and in 2021/2022 there were 41,626 (ONS, 2022). Criminalising coercive control was a significant change in the UK, as it marked attempts to address gaps in criminal law and protect victim-survivors. However, the criminal justice system is not always adequate to address the level of complexity involved in identifying and addressing coercive control.

Criminalisation indicates a focus on 'extreme' forms of violence and directs attention away from power structures that underpin, characterise, and enable everyday abuses, meaning criminal justice responses are often inadequate, inappropriate and re-traumatising. In addition, there is a long-standing history of victim-survivors being failed by attempts to address violence using a carceral framework, and it is important to note that not all victim-survivors want to seek resolution through a criminal justice route.

Many victim-survivors of intimate partner abuse will nonetheless find themselves navigating the justice system post-separation, but through the civil route of the Family Court, which addresses issues of child contact and financial divorce settlements. In this civil arena, victim-survivors are often failed for the same reasons.

Most problematic is that Family Courts have been found to hold a 'contact at all costs' ideology; because of this, abusive partners are likely to be awarded contact, even when this may be dangerous, and even when abusive partners are using the justice system as a way to further maintain control over the victim-survivor.

What we are looking for in papers

We invite papers that engage with the topic of coercive control in the context of domestic abuse, which is inclusive of intimate partner and familial abuse. This special issue will aim to promote discussion and sharing of ideas, research and experiences amongst the wider international community of researchers, academics, activists and practitioners/service providers who are engaged in the domestic abuse field.

We are interested in submissions that draw on feminist, queer, anti-carceral, and intersectional theories, and that conceptualise domestic abuse as located within power relations and inequalities. We understand that such power relations produce and compound violence and abuse, and are marked by multiple intersections of power and oppression.

This special issue will locate domestic violence within gendered power relations and patriarchal structures, and we particularly welcome submissions that attend to and/or examine the experiences of people from marginalised or minoritised identities or communities. For example, we are interested in submissions that explore intersections such as sexuality, gender, disability, culture, faith, and/or ethnicity and race. 

We welcome contributions from a range of disciplines, including from authors who are practitioners, service providers, policy makers, researchers, and/or authors engaged in activist work. We welcome a range of submission types including traditional articles, observations, commentaries, research in progress papers, interviews, research notes, reflective pieces, and creative writing pieces.

We encourage submissions that engage with the following:

• Feminist, queer, trans, and intersectional approaches to the study of, and/or work in, the field of coercive control 
• Articles with a focus on practice or service provision focused work (e.g. specialist domestic abuse services, medical settings, legal settings, counselling, psychotherapy, community, health or social care services)
• Anti-carceral and alternative approaches to the criminalisation of coercive control
• Critical approaches (e.g. engaging with issues around marginalisation, power and oppression, and/or intersectionality)
• Methodological and/or ethical issues related to conducting coercive control research 
• Perspectives around justice in the context of coercive control
• Activist work
• Policy and legislation
   

The editorial team for this special issue includes Dr Tanya Beetham, Dr Emma Turley and Lois Catrin Donnelly. 

How to submit

All submissions should be emailed to Tanya Beetham ([email protected]) by 28 July 2023. All articles (excluding creative works) will be peer reviewed.

Please note, by submitting a manuscript, you will also be invited to peer review other submissions.

Submissions should be a maximum of 8,000 words excluding references. 

Book reviews should be 750-1000 words including references.