Power and control wheel
The Power and Control Wheel is a tool utilized in the domestic violence/interpersonal violence field to understand the tactics abusers use to gain power and control over their victims. The wheel is instrumental to our understanding of how abusers operate.
The wheel is a heuristic tool that focuses on how eight different types of abuser tactics partner with physical and sexual violence (or the threat of physical and sexual violence) to dominate a victim. The wheel is made up of these component parts:
- Physical and Sexual Violence (outer ring)
- Using Intimidation
- Using Verbal & Emotional Abuse
- Using Isolation
- Minimizing, Denying and Blaming
- Using Children
- Using Male Privilege
- Using Economic Abuse
- Using Coercion and Threats
- Using Technology & Stalking
