Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control

Abstract

This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power and control over women and children. Raising awareness of private and public assaults on women as mothers and their mothering is a critical step toward countering oppressive constructions of women mothering through domestic violence.