Responding to coercive control in criminal justice domestic violence perpetrator programmes in England and Wales: Conceptual, operational, and methodological complexities

Renehan, Nicole

doi:10.1177/02645505221141952

Responding to coercive control in criminal justice domestic violence perpetrator programmes in England and Wales: Conceptual, operational, and methodological complexities

Renehan, Nicole

Authors

Dr Nicole Renehan nicole.renehan@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

Evaluations of domestic violence perpetrator programmes have not produced evidence that they are as effective at reducing male, non-violent, coercively controlling behaviours. This article proposes such limitations are understood by adopting a more complex conceptualisation of coercive control for which the reasons are both gendered and biographically unique. Drawing on document analyses and in-depth interviews with eight programme facilitators and an in-depth case study of one male participant, this article explores the merits and limitations of the cognitive behavioural, skills-based criminal justice programme, Building Better Relationships, in addressing coercively controlling behaviours. The dual (re)conceptualisation of coercive control proposed has implications for both practice and programme evaluation methods.

Citation

Renehan, N. (2023). Responding to coercive control in criminal justice domestic violence perpetrator programmes in England and Wales: Conceptual, operational, and methodological complexities. Probation Journal, https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505221141952

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Dec 8, 2022
Publication Date	2023
Deposit Date	Jan 9, 2023
Publicly Available Date	Jan 9, 2023
Journal	Probation Journal
Print ISSN	0264-5505
Electronic ISSN	1741-3079
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505221141952

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).