Victim or Perpetrator? Exploring Coercive Control, PTSD, and the Use of Violence in the Pre-Prison Heterosexual Relationships of Incarcerated Women

• In Event: Advances in Violence Against Women and Intimates

Abstract

For decades now, coercive control has been recognized as a tool that is used to establish dominance over a partner in an intimate relationship. Although coercive control has been recognized as a form of intimate partner violence (IPV), researchers have often neglected to conceptualize, measure, and examine the key construct of coercive control. Moreover, little is known about the effects of coercive control in the lives of women prisoners. Using data from the 2014 Oklahoma Study of Incarcerated Women and Their Children (N=337), I use an integrated theoretical framework drawn from feminist pathway approaches and General Strain Theory (GST) to explore the relationships between coercive control, PTSD symptomology, and women’s use of violence in intimate relationships. Results indicate that coercive control is significantly related to PTSD symptomology. However, the effects of coercive control on women’s use of violence are mediated by PTSD suggesting that PTSD plays a significant role in women’s pathways to using violence. Suggestions and implications for future research are offered.

Author

• Melissa Jones, Brigham Young University