Associations Between Coercive Control and Rate of Court Filings During the Divorce Process
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12140447 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maya L Carter (0009-0003-0041-1571, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, corresponding author), Jennifer L Hardesty (0000-0001-5320-9746, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Brian Ogolsky (0000-0001-5201-6299, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Family Violence (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0885-7482 • E-ISSN: 1573-2851 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10896-026-01090-5 |
| OpenAlex | W7139042621 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 34 |
Separating parents subject to intimate partner violence and coercive control may be at risk of experiencing continued abuse through family court processes. However, how control tactics may arise through the rate of filings has yet to be investigated. This study examined associations between the frequency of coercive control during marriage and the rate of (1) filings before the final divorce decree, (2) filings after the final divorce decree, and (3) summonses and subpoenas. Self-report surveys of 173 divorcing mothers and their divorce records from a Midwest county court were utilized. Multilevel count regression models were fitted with an interaction between the frequency of coercive control and party sex as a predictor of the rate of filings before the final divorce decree, filings after the final divorce decree, and summonses and subpoenas. A random intercept was included for divorce case. For every unit increase in the frequency of coercive control, the rate of filings before the final divorce decree increased by 6.8%, with no effect of sex. There were no significant effects of coercive control and sex on filings after the final divorce decree or summonses and subpoenas. The period before the final divorce decree may be vulnerable to the control tactic of excessive filings, but it may also be when survivors seek autonomy. Family courts and state judiciaries must account for increased filings before the final divorce decree in cases with coercive control to reduce the risk of harm against survivors and their children
Control (management · Decree · Domestic violence · Harm · Multilevel model · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Intimate Partner and Family Violence
The Validation of the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory.
Effects of Historical Coercive Control, Historical Violence, and Lawyer Representation on Post-Separation Male Partner Violence Against Mother Litigants Who Participated in Adversarial Family Court Proceedings
Stalking by Way of The Courts
Coercive Control
Legal systems abuse and coercive control
Does Knowledge Empower? Education, Legal Awareness, and Intimate Partner Violence
Power and Control in the Legal System
Paper Abuse”
Coercive Control
Using couple-level patterns of intimate partner violence to predict divorce outcomes
Custody Stalking
State Facilitated Economic Abuse
Like I’m Invisible”
Malicious Reports of Child Maltreatment as Coercive Control
Parsing Through Public Records
Coercive Control in the Courtroom
Abusive Men’s Indirect Control of Their Partner During the Process of Separation
Incredible Women
What Is Justice? Perspectives of Victims-Survivors of Gender-Based Violence
Toward a Standard Approach to Operationalizing Coercive Control and Classifying Violence Types
| Highly cited | No |
|---|