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Violence Against Women

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/13/8/885Theonline version of this article can be foundat:

DOI: 10.1177/1077801207304805

2007 13: 885Violence Against WomenTK Logan and Jody Raphael

Women in Personal Life. New York: Oxford University PressBook Review: Stark, E. (2007). Coercive Control: The Entrapment of

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Violence Against Women

Volume 13 Number 8

August 2007 885-890

2007 Sage Publications

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Stark, E. (2007). Coercive Control: The Entrapment ofWomen in Personal Life. New York:

Oxford University Press.DOI: 10.1177/1077801207304805

Most of those who work in the area of partner violence understand that psycho-

logical abuse is a very devastating part of partner violence, with many women indi-

cating that it is more painful than the physical abuse. What we have not discussed in

a long time, or perhaps in a consistent way, is why. Evan Stark brings back into focus

the why. Psychological abuse, or coercive control, as Stark phrases it, is devastat-

ing because it is about attacking a persons individual agency, liberties, and autonomy.We know that many scholars have compared partner violence victimization to the

process by which prisoners of war are broken down. The psychological degradation,

humiliation, and breaking of spirit, as a prisoner of war, can and does happen to men

and women. But, until recently, the United States has not been in a war, and the idea

of a prisoner of war is far from our younger generations consciousness, a distant

horror story but not directly relevant to daily life. Stark brings back into focus the rel-

evance of the psychological component of partner violence that is so devastating for

women living with it. He calls it an invisible cage, and, by framing the psychological

component of partner violence in this waycoercive controlthe true dynamics ofwomen living with partner violence, or rather the control tactics their partners direct

toward them daily, are better explained.

One review cannot do justice to such a big book, which was 10 years in the

making. This ambitious book fills a much-needed gap in the literature by bringing

together important pieces of early research, historical aspects of the domestic vio-

lence movement, recent research, and case insights from the authors 30-year history

of clinical and forensic work. Regardless of whether readers agree or disagree with

Starks contentions or agree only in part, we guarantee they will not ever be bored.

It is hoped that this book will be widely read and discussed and its major pointsincorporated into our daily work. In essence, this book should serve as a catalyst to

reinvigorate the domestic violence movement.

Stark begins the book by reminding us of the history of the movement to end vio-

lence against women in the United States. The first part of the book provides read-

ers with a level of historical development that every student interested in violence

against women should read and understand. This, we think, is an often-overlooked

disconnect with students today; they too often jump into the topic of violence against

women without the historical context, without which the movement cannot go for-

ward. Stark outlines the development of the first abuse shelters, what empowermentof survivors meant at the time when advocates were first trying to bring this issue to

public awareness, and how professionalization changed the movement. He reminds

us that physical assault is just one tool within the context of coercive control and that

Book Review

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886 Violence Against Women

it is this more narrow focus where we have begun to get off track or that has con-

tributed to the stalling of the movement.

The second part of the book continues with outlining the progress, or lack ofprogress, of the movement today by turning attention to measurement of abuse and

how the traditional characterization of battered women fails to truly capture their

experience, especially in the criminal justice system. Starks discussion shows the

wide difference between fights occasioned by anger and failure to communicate and

those purposely and inventively designed to control and dominate ones partner. He

criticizes the previous frameworks that have been used to characterize battered

women and their experiences, specifically focusing on the battered womens syn-

drome and the trauma framework. Stark believes that these two explanations overlook

womens survival strengths and reactions to the coercive control they are experienc-ing, and he is convincing in his arguments, especially when applied to cases in which

women have killed their batterers. Later, Stark outlines a new model of characteriz-

ing the experiences of women battered by their partners, the coercive control model,

and then applies this model to cases that he has encountered in his 30-year career of

treatment and forensic work. Stark concludes the book by suggesting what can be

done to move forward the revolution of ending violence against women.

One of the books great strengths is the observation that coercive control serves a

rational purpose for men, who insist on personal dominance over their partner as

proof of their own masculinity. Stark argues that batters expend

hours in surveillance, rule making, and enforcement . . . for three compelling reasons:

because womens gains threaten the privileges they believe are their due simply

because they are men, because womens gains increase the potential rewards if abuse

is successful, and because they can think of no equally effective way to secure these

privileges and benefits. (p. 131)

In other words, Stark writes that these men are defending their traditional prerogatives

against the perceived threats posed by womens equality. In light of this new equality,

most men, Stark says, decide to compromise their privileges and accept a certain rec-

iprocity, as unfamiliar as this may feel. However, some men, especially those who

seem more disadvantaged by society, find ways to decrease equality and increase their

privileges through coercive control of their partner and perhaps even their children.

By way of illustration, Stark discusses the benefits accruing to the men who threaten

or who rape their partners: The implied threat of sexual force allows an abusive part-

ner to dictate the when, how, where, and even the with whom of sex (p. 388). Sex is

just one illustration of the benefits men derive from being controlling and abusive;

others include such services as food on demand, housecleaning, income, laundry, tak-

ing care of the children, and a variety of other personal services. In other words, the

batterer receives free labor or services from her, whereas he enjoys leisure, freedom,

being the center of attention, and controlsomething Lundy Bancroft (2002) refers

to as the illusion of being a good husband and father without any of the sacrifice.



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In todays times of official liberation of women, when men want a universe where

male dominance over women is the norm, they will have to create a new world and

condemn their partner to it. Starks analysis would have been strengthened hadhe also recognized the extent to which cultural messages continue to beam out

messages counter to womens equality or confusing signals, including the profanity-

laced epithets of radio sports jocks, advertisements portraying women only as sexual

creatures available to service men, and pornography. In a recent commentary on a

spate of mainstream movies that are getting darker and more violent, involving vio-

lence and death of highly sexualized young women, one critic wrote,

Of course, watching one of these films wont turn a sane, decent individual into a killer

or torturer, but you have to wonder what effect this widespread meshing of sexualityand graphic violence will have on the young men at whom they are primarily aimed.

The clear logic behind all these films, TV shows, and images appears to be that if a

young, good-looking, barely-clad woman is sexy while alive, shes even sexier when

shes being tortured, or when shes a bloody corpse. (Cochrane, 2007)

When the broader culture picture is surveyed, perhaps we might see these holdouts

as those more heavily influenced, for whatever reason, by these commercial images

of women.

Close to the end of the book, one begins to wonder what is to be done. And, as

mentioned earlier, the concluding chapter outlines Starks arguments in answer tothis question. First, Stark urges the separation of fights from incidents of coercive

control. This differentiation, he states, needs to be demonstrated through research.

He believes that researchers perpetuate the wrong focus on battering because they

continue to study only part of the problemphysical violenceand physical abuse

without regard to its context misses key elements of coercive control that have far

more serious effects. Stark, who understands that researchers, especially young

researchers, have every incentive to build on the dominant approaches in the field

and have every disincentive to set out on new paths, surely understands what he is

up against when he calls for new definitions of domestic violence to be used in

research. These discussions have already occurred in various venues, and positions

seem entrenched. Those who hypothesize about different categories of violence

often have been rebuffed or simply ignored.

Nor would it be easy to develop a simple series of questions to measure coercive con-

trol and differentiate it from mere fights, in part because, as Stark so eloquently notes

in his book, batterers learn effective coercive control tactics by trial and error, revising

them to see which work best in the given situation with a given partner. If we can

assume that physical violence is a proxy for coercive control, life is much easier for

researchers, advocates, and criminal justice personnel. However, Stark argues that, in

fact, we cannot use physical abuse as a proxy for battering. Abuse can and does occur

with no or very minimal physical violence, but the results are similarly devastating

to those living with battering. We have seen this problem arise in the controversy

Book Review 887



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surrounding mutual violence, which many criticize because context or motivation are

not usually considered in these studies. However, the other side of the coin is, how can

we competently measure coercive control? The answer to that question remains a chal-lenge to researchers, one that hopefully will be met very soon.

Stark also calls for a new crime of coercive control so that patterns of practice can

be entered into evidence in criminal proceedings. Enshrining the elements of coer-

cive control into a new crime serves the purpose, he explains, of educating the public

and the criminal justice system about the true nature of domestic violence and

enabling new responses to be crafted. Although this sounds good at first blush, there

are considerable problems. Can we envision a police officer called to the scene being

able to separate out a simple violent fight from a situation involving coercive con-

trol? Police officers lack the extensive amount of time it might take to obtain a goodhistory of the relationship and its behavioral patterns. Furthermore, although Stark

does not directly confront the issue, he talks of removing the men who practice

coercive control. This would require the new crime to carry some extremely stiff

penalties, which brings us to the next issue.

There are crimes that now carry severe penalties, including sexual assault, domes-

tic battery, and stalking. Yet advocates see time after time that the criminal justice

system in one way or another avoids invoking these penalties. For example, stalking

laws are most often ignored, and sexual assault charges within the context of domes-

tic violence are frequently not even considered. There may be many reasons for thelack of attention to these very devastating occurrences. It may be because the crim-

inal justice system views these crimes as he said, she said, with resources lacking

for investigation to develop additional evidence. And often prosecutors do not feel

that these cases can be won, so lesser charges and sentences are applied instead.

Now we can assume that many of these cases already in domestic violence court-

rooms are cases involving coercive control (Logan & Walker, 2007). Were the

system to handle these serious cases as they should already be treated, we would

need not worry too much about a new crime of coercive control. Take, for example,

the protective order process, something barely mentioned by Stark. All states haveenacted laws essentially allowing women to petition for protective orders to prevent

future violence from a violent partner or ex-partner. To receive a protective order,

usually granted by a judge, a hearing is held where a woman is required to show a

pattern of abuse, something similar to coercive control. This system of protection is

a potentially useful tool in combating violence, and many women have taken advan-

tage of this option. Recent research also suggests that 2 in 5 women report no viola-

tions of the protective order approximately 1 year after obtaining it (Logan &

Walker, 2007). However, that means that 3 out of 5 women do experience a viola-

tion of the order, which then requires enforcement from the criminal justice system,which has been problematic in some jurisdictions.

And it is important to note that even though protective orders are available in all

states, obtaining an order requires women to overcome many barriers. For example,




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a recent student observation of a domestic violence court proceeding found a judge

giving a defendant yet even more time to sign up for domestic violence classes that

had been ordered 2 years ago. The prosecutor wanted the defendant placed on bondfor violating the supervision order, but the judge gave the man one more chance,

ordering him to come to court next week with proof that he had registered. After the

court went into recess, the sheriff deputies in the courtroom began talking to each

other. They said that when they walk the defendants back into the lockup before they

are released, they are laughing about what a pushover the judge is.

In another case in another jurisdiction, a woman asking for a protective order

reported during the hearing that the respondent had beaten her with a hanger. The

judge asked her what type of hangerplastic, wooden, or metal? After she answered,

the judge asked her to demonstrate how she was hit. As she went to the floor on herhands and knees and tried to show the judge how she was hit, the courtroom, which

was filled with other victims, perpetrators, advocates, and lawyers, watched as she

was being revictimized by the court system. And the protective order request was dis-

missed because the judge did not think the abuse was likely to happen again. In

another courtroom in another jurisdiction, a woman brought pictures of her bruises,

the respondent admitted to hitting her, and yet the judge dismissed the order, in front

of a courtroom filled with people including victims and perpetrators. Repeatedly,

there are cases such as these indicating that the system is not quite ready to provide

the needed protection. Thus, even with a variety of civil and criminal legal tools tocombat violence, something prevents the system from adequately responding in many

cases already labeled as severe. This also helps explain some of the stalling of the

domestic violence movement.

These examples bring us back to the point that not enough attention is given in the

book to the current inability to use laws and remedies that currently exist and that, if

they were appropriately utilized, many instances of coercive control would be

addressed. Advocates, who well understand the concept of coercive control, fight

every day to have their clients stories treated seriously. The problem may not be lack

of a proper definition but an inability of individuals in the system to understand theterror women feel from coercive control tactics. If we ourselves have not experienced

conditions of coercive control, can we identify with the harm or injury involved? Can

we even believe that such things happen? And, as Stark explains, the tyrannies he

describes seem similar to the gender stereotypes still widely held. How can we draw

the line between what women are expected to do (e.g., cooking dinner) and being

required to have it on the table at a set time? On the other hand, it can do no harm,

and only good, to educate players in the system about coercive control. As Stark

understands, perhaps an incremental approach would be more effective, including

breathing life into stalking statutes, enforcement of court-ordered protections, andreimagining new remedies for abusers.

Would a new crime automatically solve this problem? Stark is undoubtedly on to

something big when he says that confusing coercive control with minor fights, and

Book Review 889



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mixing the two into the same criminal justice system, serves overall to trivialize the

serious cases. Advocates have long recognizeda fact not mentioned enough by

Starkthat serious cases of abuse are not being taken seriously. If domestic violenceis finally understood to be much more than physical fighting between intimate or for-

merly intimate partners, then perhaps the response would be more fully commensu-

rate with the crime. But, as advocates well know, this is not easily achieved. Even

now, the system resists looking serious violence directly in the face and dealing with

it. There is just something about domestic violence and sexual assault that hits too

close to home. When we finally figure out how to confront that fact, we will be on

the way to eliminating domestic violence. Stark may not have the solution, but he

has eloquently and persuasively described the problem that needs fixing, generating

a new excitement about the domestic violence movement and a debate that needs totake place to reenergize the efforts to end violence against women. We strongly rec-

ommend this book for every student, advocate, counselor, therapist, criminal justice

professional, family violence researcher, and anyone else who works or has an inter-

est in this area.

TK Logan

University of Kentucky, Lexington

Jody Raphael

DePaul University College of Law, Chicago

References

Bancroft, L. (2002). Why does he do that? Inside the minds of angry and controlling men . New York:

Berkeley.

Cochrane, K. (2007). For your entertainment. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from http://

filmguardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,2069286,00.html

Logan, TK, & Walker, R. (2007). Protective order outcomes: What predicts violations and perceptions of

effectiveness. Unpublished manuscript.


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