RT Article
T1 UK victim-survivor experiences of intimate partner spiritual abuse and religious coercive control and implications for practice
JF Criminology & criminal justice
VO 23
IS 5
SP 773
OP 790
A1 Mulvihill, Natasha
A2 Aghtaie, Nadia
A2 Matolcsi, Andrea
A2 Hester, Marianne 1955-
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1869084918
AB This study extends existing scholarship on coercive control within an intimate relationship by exploring how some perpetrators use spiritual abuse as part of their control repertoire and how others harness belief and doctrine to exercise a totalising ‘religious coercive control’ over their victims. The analysis in this article draws on two multi-faith datasets: secondary data analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews and primary data collected through an online anonymous survey eliciting 24 qualitative responses, supplemented by 4 follow-up interviews with victim-survivors. Thematic analysis demonstrates the experience and longer-term impact of coercive control on victim-survivors and the barriers to help-seeking, including complicity at familial, community and leadership levels. We articulate their recommendations for change within places of worship and the implications for criminal justice practitioners.
K1 spiritual abuse
K1 Religion
K1 Faith
K1 Domestic abuse
K1 Coercive Control
DO 10.1177/17488958221112057