CAPUCS-project | Faculty of Social Sciences

Coercive Control and Transforming Practices of Power: Understanding the Experiences and Needs of Child Victims-Survivors (CAPUCS)

Rationale

CAPUCS is a cross-country and inter-disciplinary research project that examines coercive and controlling behaviors as domestic abuse and violence from the perspective of children and young people. Previously, coercive control has mainly been studied in adult relationships. The research project produces new knowledge on coercive control as domestic abuse and violence from the perspective of children and young people.

The focus of the project is on cases where the parent or step-parent has directed or directs coercive and controlling behaviors against the child and/or their other parent. Particular interest lies in the power practices of coercive control from the perspective of the child and young person.

Aims of the project

The project offers originality as the first in its field to:

Establish how coercive control from a parent harms key domain of children’s lives, including health, education and community participation.
Explore how professionals can be better equipped to tackle these harms to children.

The research results increase knowledge on coercive control in the lives of children and young people and promote the recognition of the status of children and young people and providing them with help in situations of coercive control.

Working packages and research materials

The research consists of the following working packages:

Identifying children’s experiences
Mechanisms of coercive control
Responding to and addressing coercive control in children’s lives

The research is based on the following research materials:

- A quantitative survey aimed at young people (Finland, Canada)
- Task-based interviews with children and young people (Finland, Canada)
- Court case files on stalking (Finland)
- Vignette-based interviews with professionals (Finland, Canada)
- Literature on familicide research
- A qualitative survey directed at professionals (Finland)

The data is collected by the University of Lapland, Finland and University of Ottawa, Canada.

Read the project´s privacy notice here: CAPUCS Privacy notice

Additional information

Funding bodies:

The study is funded by Research Council of Finland (Decision number 356374)

Project period:

1 September 2023-30 August 2027

Collaborative partners:

Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters
Tukikeskus Varjo
Barnahus-project/Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Finnish League for Human Rights

Publications

Finnish professionals’ views on the position and agency of children in helping processes concerning cases of post-separation parental stalking and coercive control: A child’s right perspective

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the position and agency of children in helping processes and professional encounters in cases where one parent targets the other with stalking and coercive and controlling behaviors after separation. Three main categories for children’s positions and agency were formed: 1) The child caught in the middle, 2) The neglected child and 3) The child as a questioned knowledgeable agent. The positions and agency ascribed to children are discussed in the light of the children’s right to provision, protection and participation classified in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nikupeteri, A. (2024): Finnish professionals’ views on the position and agency of children in helping processes concerning cases of post-separation parental stalking and coercive control: A child’s right perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 164, 107862. You can read the article here.

Research group