The Power and Control Wheel, also known as the Duluth Model, was developed at the Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs in Duluth, MN. This tool was created in 1984 by working with focus groups of battered women. After all the stories were told and questions answered they grouped the most common behaviors and tactics used by the abusers and created the wheel. Now, this wheel doesn’t include every behavior or trait exhibited by abusers, but includes the most universal ones. This tool has really opened my eyes to the depth of abuse I was experiencing in my relationship.
The structure of the Power and Control Wheel is made up of 3 layers. The very center of the wheel is Power and Control, that’s the abusers ultimate goal, their bull’s eye. The middle layer is made up of 8 wedges. These are the common behaviors and tactics used by abusers. The wedges (in no particular order) are:
- Economic Abuse
- Isolation
- Intimidation
- Coercion and Threats
- Using Male Privilege
- Using the Kids
- Emotional Abuse
- Minimizing, Denying and Blaming
What I find to be important is that some of the traits and behaviors of this middle layer seem so small and inconsequential when exhibited as a single act. However, when these traits and behaviors are added up over years the sums are devastating to the victim’s sense of self. This is also what makes identifying abuse so difficult when it’s not physical. Looking at each behavior and trait as an individual incident, doesn’t seem like much, but when you look at the frequency and pattern of the incidents the abuse is clear.
The outer layer of the wheel is Physical and Sexual Violence. This violence can be demonstrated in various ways, all of which are harmful to the victim. I feel that this layer could be one of the infinite number of reasons victims stay for as long as they do. Fear of sexual assault, physical harm, and even death makes “living” with the middle layer of wedges seem somewhat bearable, as long as the outer layer of violence isn’t happening.
To get more information on the Power and Control Wheel visit www.theduluthmodel.org. They have more wheels than just the one I’ve shared here. They have started to adapt the wheel for different situations and have translated the wheels into many different languages.
Now, I want to clarify what I mean by “living.” I use the quotation marks because what a victim goes through in these relationships could never really be considered living, merely just surviving. I feel to truly live one must be free to grow, and experience life, to feel safe and pursue their personal goals and interests. When I was with Paul, I spent so much energy tiptoeing around him and trying to anticipate his every need to prevent his abuse that I had no energy left for myself. I wasn’t living; I was just surviving.
The Duluth Model: Sexist?
I have made several TikToks talking about the Power and Control wheel, and without fail I get comments stating that the Power and Control wheel is sexist. I want to talk about this a bit, because to stay true to my cause of advocating for victims I want to make sure ALL victims are heard and represented. I don’t want to be using a tool that is harmful to any one. So let’s take a look at this.
One comment suggested I watch a YouTube video by Karen Straughan, an MRA (Men’s Rights Activist, I had to look up this abbreviation), who discussed the sexism present in the Power and Control Wheel. Karen states that the Power and Control wheel is one of two “schools of thought.” She states, “The hypothesis of “patriarchal terrorism” is otherwise known as the Duluth Model(Straughan, 2015, 3:10).”
I do not believe the Power and Control Wheel is a “feminist model (Straughan, 2015, 19:00).” I don’t believe the Power and Control wheel is anything more than a tool that can be used to identify abusive traits and behaviors. The Duluth Model was created from listening to victims. It was created from data and research. It is a diagnostic tool.
Any one who looks at the Power and Control wheel can see that the creators used “she” pronouns for the victim and “he” pronouns for the abuser. They even named one of the wedges “Using Male Privilege.” This is because the victims they interviewed were all women who were abused by men. Doe this make them sexist?
The creators of the Power and Control wheel are aware that women are not the only victims. On their website they were asked “Why are the Power and Control Wheel and Equality Wheel gender specific?” The first part of their response is….
“The Power and Control Wheel represents the lived experience of women who live with a man who beats them. It does not attempt to give a broad understanding of all violence in the home or community but instead offers a more precise explanation of the tactics men use to batter women. We keep our focus on women’s experience because the battering of women by men continues to be a significant social problem–men commit 86 to 97 percent of all criminal assaults and women are killed 3.5 times more often than men in domestic homicides.”
(Domestic, 2017, Understanding)
To read more of their explanation you can visit their website: https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/faqs-about-the-wheels/
I don’t believe the creators of the Power and Control Wheel are sexist, but trying to focus their efforts and resources on one part of a very large societal issue.
A metaphor I’ve used to understand this would be cancer research. We don’t get mad at the Susan G. Komen organization for only focusing on Breast Cancer when there is also skin cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, etc. We wouldn’t say this organization is discriminating against other types of cancer because they focus their resources into breast cancer prevention and treatment. So why would the Duluth Model be sexist when they are focusing their resources on one aspect of the larger issue, especially when they agree that women are not the only victims.
Gender Inclusivity
Though the Duluth model does use she/her pronouns for the victim and he/him pronouns for the abuser, I’m not going to use that here. I try not to use gender specify pronouns when I’m discussing abuse in general. I try to use “the victim” and “the abuser” as labels instead of using pronouns. When referencing specific accounts of abuse I will use the victim’s and abuser’s pronouns. For example when I recount incidents of the abuse I experienced I will refer to my abuser as he/him because that is how my ex-husband identified and myself as she/her because that is how I identify.
It doesn’t matter where you fall on the gender spectrum, you can be a victim. Swinging in the other direction: abusers can land anywhere on the gender spectrum as well. Domestic Abuse does not only happen to women. It can happen to anyone. So, I will do my best to stay gender neutral so that all victims, no matter how they identify feel welcome and safe in this space.
In my research I have come across gender neutral versions of the Power and Control Wheel. The University of North Carolina School of Medicine provides an adapted Duluth Model to be gender inclusive (UNC, 2023). Instead of using “she” for the victim, they referred to them as “the partner.” For the wedge “Using Male Privilege” to “Using Gender Privilege.” These simple changes makes the model more relatable for all victims.
Unpopular Opinion: Men can be victims too!
Yes! Men can be victims of domestic abuse too. I know at least 4 men right now who have disclosed abuse in current or past relationships. I know Karen Straughan eluded to the belief that Feminist don’t believe men are domestic abuse victims (Straughan, 2015). Hello! Feminist here! Hi! I 100% know that men can be victims too.
One of the men that I know was abused in a previous relationship is my amazing husband. Looking at him you wouldn’t think he would be a victim. He’s broad shouldered and muscular. He has tons of tattoos, some piercings, a big beard and a combat Army veteran; spending two years in the remote mountains of Afghanistan. Yet, he is a survivor of domestic abuse. He had been isolated, intimidated, economically and emotionally abused, and even physically hit, just to name a few things.
Another friend of mine, Andrea, was worried about one of her male friends. She knew he was being abused but didn’t know how to bring it up to him. She asked me for a copy of the Power and Control wheel. At the time I didn’t know about the gender inclusive adaptation, so I sent the original and just told him to change the “she” to “he”. He sent it back to her with highlights of what he had experienced.
So even though the original Power and Control is not gender inclusive the behaviors and traits are still universal to abusers, no matter their gender. Do we need tools specifically for male/ masculine identifying victims? Yes, of course. To best help male/masculine identifying victims we need to have tools specifically developed by listening to their stories. The consolidating of their behaviors and tactics used by their abusers to create a tool. Just like they did with the Power and Control Wheel for female victims.
Why don’t we have these tools? Honestly, I haven’t done enough research to tell me why. My guess though, from my experiences, is that we live in a society that tells men they are supposed to be tough, the protectors, the invulnerable gender. We don’t provide a safe space for men to come forward as victims. What typically happens when a man says he’s been hit by a woman? He’s either ridiculed and called derogatory names for allowing the “weaker gender” to assault him, or he’s simply not believed. We need to create a safe space for men to get loud about the abuse they survived, to be believed, and to get the same protections afforded to female victims/survivors. We need to create the safe space for men, so we can start to study male domestic abuse survivors experiences and build tools that will help them identify abuse, escape the abuse and recover and heal.
Resources:
- Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs. (2017). www.theduluthmodel.org.
- Straughan, Karen. (2015, July 15). Why do MRAs attack Feminism? [Video]. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2k86aMfAY
- Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs. (2017). Understanding the Power and Control Wheel. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/faqs-about-the-wheels/
- UNC Hospital’s Beacon Programs. (2023). Gender Inclusive Power and Control Wheel. https://www.med.unc.edu/beacon/wp-content/uploads/sites/598/2018/03/GenderInclusivePCWheel.pdf