#CoerciveControl is a useful concept for making visible the abuses of #power that can occur in hierarchical relationships.
We now see them more easily in #families, #cults & other institutions. Perhaps our next step is to see how people raised in relations of hierarchy learn that the only way to be safe is to either become the biggest #bully in the room or to appease that bully.
So many of the people who achieve power in our #political & other institutions appear to operate like this. While bullying behaviour is seen as normal, or even valorised as a characteristic of alpha masculinity, our cultural framing rules (what we’re allowed to say) & feeling rules (what we’re allowed to feel) obscure it from view. The consequences of a bully’s actions are seen as resulting from the personal failings of those who are harmed. Naming this dynamic becomes a dangerous act.
Sound familiar?
What if our culture‘s assumed hierarchy of human value is mistaken? What if this way of making sense of the world harms us more than it protects? What if we are all connected & our wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of others?
When bullies win, everyone loses. I say yay to every way we make this visible.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-12/coercive-control-religion-geelong-revival-centre/105146234?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
