Student and Community Member Experiences of Coercive Control in Intimate Partner Abuse

• In Event: Poster Session 2

Abstract

Coercive control is a form of intimate partner abuse that involves a strategic course of conduct by the abuser to intimidate, degrade, isolate, and control a victim-survivor of abuse. Often, the victim-survivor will experience depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Coercive control is also associated with increased risk for lethality in abusive relationships. Given this, several jurisdictions have recently criminalized coercive control, and Canada is currently considering similar federal legislation. In this study, we explored experiences of coercive control among a sample of University students and a sample of community members from a municipality in Western Canada. The results showed that coercive control was one of the more commonly experienced forms of abuse and was primarily associated with experiences of harassing/stalking behaviours and physical violence. Additionally, victim-survivors who experienced coercive control reported significantly more forms of intimate partner abuse than those who did not experience coercive control. These findings are important considering the current debate in Canada as to whether and how to best criminalize coercive control.

Authors

• Amanda V. McCormick, University of the Fraser Valley

• Jillian Reimer, University of the Fraser Valley