• Humiliate, criticize or yell at you?
• Blame you for his behavior?
• Threaten to hurt you?
• Break or Hit things to intimidate you or others?
• Threaten to take your kids away?
• Threaten to harm your kids or pets?
• Force you to perform sexual acts?
• Act jealous and possessive?
• Tell or “suggest” what you should do
• Blow disagreements out of proportion.
• Keep you from seeing friends and family?
• Limit your access to money or necessities?
• Keep you from getting a job or going to school?
• Constantly check up on you?
• Threaten to hurt themselves or others if you leave?

Power and Control Wheel

Domestic violence involves a range of behaviors which can include physical and sexual violence; using coercion and threats; using intimidation; using emotional abuse, using isolation; minimizing, denying and blaming; using children; using male privilege; and using economic abuse. These forms of abuse do not occur in isolation from each other, but rather occur simultaneously.

The Power & Control Wheel model of Domestic Violence identifies power and control as the goal of all of these tactics of abuse because victims’ experiences consistently indicate that the behavior of their partners is not random or arbitrary, but purposeful and systematic. The goal of abusers’ behavior is to exert control over their partners. This goal reflects their belief that they have a right and entitlement to control their intimate partners. The various forms of abuse, the different behaviors, are used as tactics of control.

The Equality Wheel model illustrates equality at the center of a healthy relationship. When both partners in a relationship believe they are equal, and neither tries  to gain power and control over the other, the result is a non-violent and healthy relationship.

Power & Control and Equality Models developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP), Duluth, Minnesota. Click on wheels for printable versions or visit the DAIP’s Wheel Gallery.