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.  Abusers use multiple strategies to exercise control over their partners including violence.

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 The wheel is instrumental to helping victims recognize the warning signs that they may be in an abusive relationship.  The more spokes on the wheel that the victim identifies with the more likely that they are in an abusive relationship.  It is important to note that this is not the legal definition of domestic violence. 

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In Florida the legal definition of domestic violence means any “assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member”.  Section 741.28 (2), Florida Statutes.

 

For more information see the video at:  https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/understanding-power-control-wheel/

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