‘Listen to me, his behaviour is erratic and I’m really worried for our safety . . .’: Help-seeking in the context of coercive control
| Published date | 01 November 2021 |
| Date | 01 November 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895819898513 |
| Author | Rebecca Zerk,Sarah Wydall |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819898513
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2021, Vol. 21(5) 614 –632
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1748895819898513
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‘Listen to me, his behaviour
is erratic and I’m really
worried for our safety . . .’:
Help-seeking in the context
of coercive control
Sarah Wydall and Rebecca Zerk
Aberystwyth University, UK
Abstract
This article explores 12 female victim-survivors’ experiences of seeking protection from criminal
justice agencies in Dyfed-Powys, an area in Wales. The discussion draws on rich qualitative data,
from a series of narrative interviews held in 2015, which offers new insights into how coercive
and controlling behaviours influence ‘help-seeking’. The findings suggest that for 12 women,
deemed to be high-risk, the experience of actively engaging with criminal justice agencies, served
to instil in them a sense that they were alone at the most dangerous period in their help-seeking
journey, namely the juncture of leaving, without formal protection. Under-enforcement by justice
agents resulted in what Stubbs terms ‘non-feasance’: a process whereby women are unable to
access protection from the law, thus potentially increasing the propensity for lethal violence.
Keywords
Coercive control, criminal justice, domestic abuse, intimate partner abuse, police
Since 1998, there have been significant developments in the United Kingdom Government’s
approach to tackling domestic abuse, for example, strategy documents have emphasised
the need for greater protection and perpetrator accountability and encouraged victim-survi-
vors to engage with a criminal justice response to domestic abuse (Home Office, 2007).
Our research in Dyfed-Powys highlights that despite the plethora of empirically informed
guidance and training provision, criminal justice practitioners still appear to have a limited
understanding about coercive and controlling behaviours and the increased levels of
Corresponding author:
Sarah Wydall, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3AS, UK.
Email: sww@aber.ac.uk
898513CRJ0010.1177/1748895819898513Criminology & Criminal JusticeWydall and Zerk
research-article2020
Article
Wydall and Zerk 615
dangerousness associated with leaving a perpetrator (Campbell, 1995). Although, our
research was undertaken prior to the introduction of section 76 of the Serious Crimes Act
(2015), which made controlling or coercive behaviour a discrete offence, it shows how the
failure of criminal justice practitioners to respond appropriately to a pattern of coercive or
controlling behaviours by perpetrators can have a negative impact on women’s help-seek-
ing. As noted earlier, given the information available in criminal justice policies and prac-
tice prior to the new legislation, the narratives from this research suggest that it is unlikely
that the introduction of section 76 will increase opportunities for legal protection in Dyfed-
Powys, given significant shortcomings in how criminal justice agencies understand domes-
tic abuse. While the findings may not be indicative of criminal justice professionals’
behaviour in other parts of the United Kingdom, the data suggest that there is a need for a
transformative response to domestic abuse by criminal justice agencies, particularly the
police, if they are to fulfil their obligations to hold perpetrators accountable and protect
women and children.
Doing justice differently?
Developments over the last two decades have led to a paradigm shift towards ‘doing
justice’ differently, with an increasing emphasis being placed on the needs and rights of
victims (College of Policing, 2016; Ministry of Justice, 2015; Moffat, 2017). In the con-
text of domestic abuse, meanings of justice are complex, and victim-survivors do not
have a shared universal perception of what justice is. Holder and Daly (2017) describe
how, when victim-survivors access the criminal justice system, they have a ‘trilogy of
justice interests’ with multiple aims and motivations for themselves, the perpetrator, and
their community (p. 6). For victim-survivors, ‘justice goals’ unfold and re-order as they
engage, in varying degrees, with the criminal justice process.
Many victim-survivors’ expectations of help-seeking, which may include ‘justice-
seeking’ are rooted in ideas of being treated fairly at every stage in the process (Tyler and
Huo, 2002). As Walgrave (2011) observes, it is through the process of seeking justice that
victims sense justice. Improving victim-survivors’ experiences of the justice system,
from when they report a crime through to their appearance in the courts is crucial, as
individual perceptions of justice processes are more positive when issues of procedural
justice are effectively attended to, irrespective of the final outcome (Cattaneo and
Goodman, 2010; Thibaut and Walker, 1975). Indeed, as Tyler (2006) notes, ‘Procedural
justice focusses on the subjective sense of being treated fairly with respect and equity,
being taken seriously and listened to by authorities’ (p. 308).
Typically, when people choose to engage with the criminal justice system, it is often
to report a one-off incident, consequently, victims are unlikely to feel at risk of re-victim-
isation by the same offender. In contrast, for victim-survivors of domestic abuse, the
point of disclosure to formal agencies actually increases the risk of significant harm by
perpetrators, as disclosure is likely to result in further victimisation (Abrahams, 2007).
Given the heightened need for protection when women leave male perpetrators, crimi-
nal justice agents need to prioritise safety. As Lewis et al. (2000) suggest women are aware
that the confined space in which they seek help is a highly unsafe, rapidly changing envi-
ronment. As perpetrators place temporal and situational constraints on victim-survivors, it
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