Season 6 Episode 2: Coercive Control and Children
About This Episode
In this episode, David and Ruth explore why coercive control must be at the center of how we understand the impact of domestic abuse on children. Moving beyond just focusing on physical violence or whether children “witnessed” abuse, they discuss how perpetrators’ patterns of behavior can devastate children’s well-being in multiple ways.
David and Ruth examine how coercive control by perpetrators can rob children of vital resources, including economic stability, healthcare, education, family connections, and safety. They discuss how these patterns intersect with systemic oppression and vulnerabilities, creating additional layers of harm that perpetrators exploit.
The conversation highlights how a coercive control framework helps professionals better assess perpetrators’ harmful parenting choices, understand survivors’ protective efforts, and make more informed decisions about child safety. The hosts emphasize the importance of documenting specific harms to children and challenging perpetrators who use culture or religion to justify control.
They emphasize that the costs of not addressing these issues—in terms of children’s well-being and broader societal impact—are too high to ignore.
Additional Resources
Uncovering Coercive Control: A Multimedia Tool for Professionals Who Work with Survivors
David Mandel’s book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence
Safe & Together Institute’s domestic abuse–informed trainings
Safe & Together Institute’s upcoming events