Effects of Historical Coercive Control, Historical Violence, and Lawyer Representation on Post-Separation Male Partner Violence Against Mother Litigants Who Participated in Adversarial Family Court Proceedings.

The primary objective of this study was to test the effects of historical male partner violence and lawyer representation on post-separation male partner violence and coercive control against mother litigants participating in adversarial family court proceedings. Toward this end, staff at two women's shelters administered a questionnaire to 40 former residents who met the sample selection criteria. Two findings are noteworthy. First, there was a decrease in mother litigant reports of post-separation physical violence requiring a visit to a hospital. Second, post-separation male partner coercive control "most/some of the time" was reported by 97.5% of all 40 separated mother litigants who also reported experiencing historical coercive control by their male partners. Recommendations and limitations are described in the final two pages.

Marital Separation and Lethal Male Partner Violence.

Findings reported by many researchers indicate that the association between marital separation and intimate partner femicide has achieved the status of a sociological empirical generalization. The primary objective of this article is to contribute toward the cumulative development of a conflict theoretic explanation of separation- associated femicide by creating and testing a deductive conflict resolution theory that explains the empirical generalization. The causal mechanism identified in the theory is the intensity of conflict that increases with participation in adversarial and separation and divorce proceedings. Interventions logically derived from the theory are presented in the penultimate segment. Limitations are identified in the concluding segment.