The deeper context of coercive control: New insights into behavioural patterns in coercive controllers to support greater precision in social worker assessments of critical risk

Journal article

Mitchell, K., Melville-Wiseman, J. and McFarlane, Felicity 2025. The deeper context of coercive control: New insights into behavioural patterns in coercive controllers to support greater precision in social worker assessments of critical risk. Probation Journal. 72 (4), pp. 485-510. https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505251371590

Publication dates
Authors	Mitchell, K., Melville-Wiseman, J. and McFarlane, Felicity
Abstract	This research aimed to provide new insights into the behaviours and tactics of people who engage in coercive control. The research drew on the knowledge and experiences of a wide range of professionals working with people who actively violate social norms and harm and disadvantage others by conscious choice both inside and outside of forensic settings. The results provide a framework to inform social work practice, policy, and training requirements to support the assessment and management of risk to both vulnerable adults and children when they are targeted by people who perpetrate coercive control.
Keywords	Coercive control; Dark personality ; Abuse; Domestic violence; Relational risk; Narcissism; Psychopathy; Dark triad
Year	2025
Journal	Probation Journal
Journal citation	72 (4), pp. 485-510
Publisher	SAGE Publications
ISSN	0264-5505
	1741-3079
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505251371590
Official URL	https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02645505251371590
Online	10 Sep 2025
Publication process dates
Deposited	22 Sep 2025
Publisher's version	mitchell-et-al-2025-the-deeper-context-of-coercive-control-new-insights-into-behavioural-patterns-in-coercive.pdf License CC BY 4.0 File Access Level Open
Output status	Published
Additional information	Publications router.

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