“You don’t notice it, it’s like boiling water”: Identifying psychological abuse within intimate partner relationships and how it develops across a domestic homicide timeline

Abstract

Despite evidence that nonviolent coercive control (NCC) is a predictor of intimate partner femicide (IPF), little research exists that can guide practitioner judgement about risk when the context preceding homicide does not involve physical violence. Central to NCC is psychological abuse. Psychological abuse is one of the most common forms of harm leading up to IPF, yet its relationship to domestic homicide has received little focus. This survivor-led research initiative, used Framework Analysis, to analyse data from 12 women who had experienced NCC within an intimate partner relationship. Thirteen themes reveal how psychological abuse develops across a domestic homicide timeline (DHT) (Monckton-Smith, Violence Against Women, 26(11), 1267–1285, 2019); perceiving personality disorders; a history of complex needs; the abusers voice – defining your reality; the knight in shining armour; psychological manipulation; dynamics of abuse; the character change – building the cage; tightening the grip – instilling fear; a return to hope; recognising the abuse; reducing the space for action; the ongoing impact; the worst abuse. We confirm the DHT is an effective tool to highlight the dynamic nature of risk. Our findings demonstrate how psychological abuse follows a chronology and builds into an escalating pattern of NCC. We demonstrate how this abuse sustains long past the point of separation and highlight its risk to survivors’ health, wellbeing, and existence. We raise awareness of psychological abuse as a key form of NCC that can inform judgement of risk and permit early identification of abuse prior to the onset of lethal violence or survivor suicide.