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Abstract: 

In 2007, Oxford University Press published one of the most important books ever written on domestic violence, Evan Stark’s “Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life.” Dr. Stark’s groundbreaking book argued that domestic violence need not necessarily be physical, but was a pattern of controlling behaviors akin to hostage-taking. Through a comprehensive analysis of court records, interviews, and governmental statistics, Stark detailed the coercive strategies that abusers use to deny women their personhood, including various forms of controlling, coercive, and threatening behavior. In this review of a new and revised edition of “Coercive Control,” Margaret Drew, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Massachusetts Law School, assesses the important contributions of Stark’s expanded view of non-physical forms of control and his ideas for how current law can and should be modified to become a more effective shield for victims of abuse.

Keywords: Coercive Control

Affiliations:  1: University of Massachusetts Law School .