Criminalising Coercive Control: Family Violence and the Criminal Law

This book considers whether coercive control (particularly non-physical forms of family violence) should be prohibited by the criminal law. Based on the premise that traditional understandings of family violence are severely limited, it considers whether the core of family violence is power-based controlling or coercive behavior: attempts by men to psychologically dominate their partners. Such behavior can cause significant psychological, physical and economic harms to victims and is increasingly recognized as a form of human rights abuse. The book considers the new offences that have been introduced in England and Wales (controlling or coercive behavior), Ireland (controlling behavior) and Scotland (domestic abuse). It invites consideration of three key questions: Do conventional criminal laws adequately regulate non-physical abuse? Is the criminal law an appropriate mechanism for responding to the coercive control of family members? And if a new and distinctive offence is warranted, what is the optimal form of that offence? This ground-breaking work is essential reading for researchers and practitioners interested in coercive control and the proper role of the criminal law as a mechanism for regulating family violence.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: The Harms And Wrongs Of Non-Physical Abuse.- Chapter 1. Criminalising Coercive Control: An Introduction (Marilyn McMahon).- Chapter 2. The ‘Coercive Control Framework’: Making Law Work for Women (Evan Stark).- Chapter 3. Economic Abuse and Family Violence Across Cultures: Gendering Money and Assets Through Coercive Control (Supriya Singh).- Chapter 4. Coercive Control and Intimate Partner Homicide (Danielle Tyson).- Part 2: Fixing A ‘Gap’ In The Law?.- Chapter 5.  An Alternative Means of Prosecuting Domestic Abuse: Are Stalking Laws a Neglected Resource? (Marilyn McMahon).- Chapter 6. Evaluating Criminalisation as a Strategy in Relation to Non-Physical Family Violence (Julia Quilter).- Part 3: New Initiatives.- Chapter 7. Ahead of Their Time? The Offences of Economic and Emotional Abuse in Tasmania, Australia (Kerryne Barwick).- Chapter 8. From Social Construct to Legal Innovation: The Offence of Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in England and Wales (Cassandra Wiener).- Chapter 9. The Making of the ‘New Gold Standard’: The Scottish Experience: The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (Marsha Scott).- Part 4: A Way Forward?.- Chapter 10. A Comparative Evaluation of Offences: Criminalising Abusive Behaviour in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Tasmania (Vanessa Bettinson).- Chapter 11. Coercive Control as the Context for Intimate Partner Violence: The Challenge for the Legal System (Jane Wangmann).- Chapter 12. Alternative Constructions of a Family Violence Offence (Heather Douglas).

About the Author :
Dr Marilyn McMahon is a Professor of Criminal Law and the Deputy Dean of the School of Law at Deakin University. Dr.McMahon graduated from the University of Melbourne with BA(Hons) and LLB degrees and has a Master of Psychology (Forensic) degree from Monash University. She obtained her PhD (with Distinction) from La Trobe University. Her research and teaching is primarily in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence, particularly where issues arise in relation to the mental state of those charged with crimes. She is a member of the Mental Health Tribunal (Victoria), the Forensic Leave Panel and the Australian Forensic Reference Group, a committee of scientists established within Victoria Police to assist with ‘cold case’ investigations. Dr McMahon is also a registered psychologist. Paul McGorrery is a PhD candidate at Deakin Law School, and is an admitted lawyer in both Australia and New York, USA. He graduated from La Trobe University with a BLS and an LLB, and graduated magna cum laude with an LLM from Temple University in the United States. His research focuses primarily on criminal law, family violence and sentencing. Paul has worked as a prosecutor with the Office of Public Prosecutions in Melbourne, and has taught law and criminology with a number of universities. He is currently a senior legal policy adviser at the Sentencing Advisory Council in Victoria