Bindermans Chart of Coercion

Bindermans Chart of Coercion
General Methods Effects (Purposes)
1. Isolation Deprives victim of all
social support of their
ability to resist.
Develops an intense
concern with self
Makes victim dependent
upon interrogator
2. Monopolization of perception Fixes attention upon
immediate predicament,
fosters introspection
Eliminates stimuli
competing with those
controlled by the captor
Frustrates all actions not
consist with compliance
3. Induced debility; Exhaustion Weakens mental and physical ability to resist
4. Threats Cultivates anxiety and
despair
5. Occasional indulgences Provides positive
motivation for compliance
Hinders adjustment to
deprivation
6. Demonstrating "Omnipotence" Suggests futility of
resistance
7. Degradation Makes cost of resistance
appear more damaging
to self esteem than
capitulation
Reduces prisoner to
"animal level" concerns
8. Enforcing trivial demands Develops habit compliance
Isolation social isolation has frequently been called as a characteristic of the modern nuclear family; social battered women/men is even more pronounced.
Monopolization of perception The possessiveness that some husbands/wives display toward their wives/ husbands regarding other men/women, their jobs, school, or any other interests the woman/man may have. This also adds to isolation and dependence.
Induced debility Physical violence as well as forced sex; psychological abuse including insults, humiliating, derogatory comments and cruel put-downs.
Threats Verbal threats to hurt or even kill the woman/man are common; even nonphysical threats can be devastating.
Occasional indulgences The good times can keep the woman/man in the relationship.
Demonstrating "Omnipotence" Coercion clearly serves to convey "omnipotence"; Much marital rape and other violent acts appear to serve this purpose.
Degradation Resistance is more damaging to the woman's/man's self esteem than compliance and so they submit to abuse.
Enforcing trivial demands Often the man's/ womans violence is set off by trivial things, such as an undusted shelf or a meal they do not care for; such tyrannical behavior helps develop the habit of compliance.
All of these methods have been effective in obtaining compliance with POW's and are equally effective with women/men. POW's are held prisoner by the obvious physical constraints of captivity; women/men are trapped by the social, economic, and cultural factors that make them dependent. They can subsequently be trapped as a result of the torture itself.
Taken from Rape in Marriage by Diana E. H