It isn’t just a shove’: Judicial understandings of domestic abuse and the challenges ofrecognising and responding to ‘coercive control’ in the criminal and family courts

Abstract
In many jurisdictions there has been a shift in substantive criminal law to try to recognise
coercive control as a form of domestic abuse. Empirical research has assessed the impact of
criminalisation, but the main focus has been on policing rather than judicial understandings
of coercive and controlling behaviour in domestic relationships. This article reports on an
empirical study which examined the implementation of the new offences of coercive control
in England and Wales and, comparatively, Scotland. It examined how judicial understandings
of domestic abuse might impact on the way that cases are dealt with in both criminal
systems. Though small-scale, it provides a much-needed update to research on lay
magistrates’ attitudes to domestic abuse in England and Wales, and gives new insights into
their key role in criminal and family justice cases. It also explores how Scottish judges are
influenced by their perceptions of juror understandings of coercive and controlling
behaviour and the importance of professional and public education in this context.

Burton, Mandy; Bettinson, Vanessa; Munro, Vanessa (2024). ‘It isn’t just a shove’: Judicial understandings of domestic abuse and the challenges of recognising and responding to ‘coercive control’ in the criminal and family courts. University of Leicester. Journal contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/2381/25134761.v1