The Role of Control in Intimate Partner Violence: A Study in Dutch Forensic Outpatients

Johnson argued that coercive control is crucial in explaining heterogeneity in intimate partner violence, with such violence being more frequent, less reciprocal, and more often male-to-female aggression when it serves to exercise control over the partner. We assessed 280 Dutch forensic outpatients who had recently engaged in intimate partner violence on nonaggressive coercive control. Control showed significant, small to moderate, associations with more frequent past year acts of psychological aggression, physical assault, and sexual coercion and more frequently resulted in partner injury. Control was unrelated to reciprocity of partner violence. High controlling violence was enacted mostly, but not exclusively by men. Overall, while perhaps not having a uniquely strong association, our findings provide partial support for the role of coercive control in intimate partner violence and suggest it may benefit intimate partner violence risk assessment.