Do Psychological Professionals display victim blaming attitudes towards clients experiencing coercive controlling relationships?

Coercive control (CC) refers to a type of intimate partner violence (IPV) in which the perpetrator repeatedly threatens, isolates and controls their partner. Research has demonstrated that psychological professionals (PPs) sometimes display victim blaming attitudes towards victims of IPV. Such responses can cause ‘secondary victimisation’ and reduce help-seeking. Most existing research has focused on physical abuse and used quantitative measures of blame, which may be subject to socially desirable responses, particularly for PPs. The current study aimed to explore whether PPs display victim blaming attitudes towards victims of CC specifically, using qualitative methodology. Fourteen UK PPs were presented with a fictional video vignette of a victim of CC being assessed for support in a mental health setting. They then participated in a semi-structured interview to discuss their impressions and how they might work clinically with this case. Interview data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify whether participants attributed the cause or perpetuation of CC to any behaviours or characteristics of the victim. Four themes and nine sub-themes were identified: recognising the controlling tactics of the perpetrator, blame attributed towards the victim, removing some blame from the perpetrator, and empathising with the victim. The themes included factors influencing victim blaming particular to PPs, including pathologizing both the victim and the perpetrator, and overreliance on psychological models to explain or justify the behaviour. Clinical and research implications are discussed which aim to further understand victim blaming by PPs and minimise the risk of blame being communicated to victims they work with. Inconsistencies in existing definitions of victim blaming are discussed in relation to the conclusions we can make from the present study, given the broad definition of victim blaming used.