Legal abuse in the family courts: Examining indicators, prevalence, and association with coercive control

Legal abuse, or the exploitation of the family court system to abuse and control a former partner, is a pervasive yet neglected issue that threatens survivors of intimate partner violence and their children during divorce. To contribute to this growing body of literature, the current study aimed to 1) identify and examine the prevalence of indicators of legal abuse in divorce records and 2) examine the association between the frequency of coercive control during marriage and the likelihood of the presence of legal abuse in divorce records. The data were derived from a larger study that combined self-report survey data from mothers and corresponding administrative records for divorces filed between 2009 and 2013 in a Midwest county. Indicators of legal abuse were conceptualized as custody stalking, manipulating child support, prolonging the case, distorting finances and inflicting financial burden, or threats and harassment. A case was coded to have the presence of legal abuse if it contained at least one of these indicators. Among 178 cases, 38 (22%) had the presence of legal abuse indicators, suggesting an overall low prevalence. However, higher frequencies of coercive control during marriage were associated with a higher likelihood of the presence of legal abuse in divorce records. Implications and recommendations for family court and state judiciaries are provided.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Dvlpmt & Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Carter, Maya L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hardesty, Jennifer L.
• Ogolsky, Brian G.

• Coercive Control
• Legal Abuse

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Maya Carter

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124331

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124331