Bethany Jantzi, MSc Psychology of Coercive Control

I recently got the chance to present some of my research at The International Coercive Control Conference in NYC. In my presentation, I focused on how theology can be weaponized as a form of spiritualized coercive control against women. I looked at how religious language and doctrine can be used to legitimize male control and entitlement and enforce compliance. Coercive control is nuanced and personalized to the victim, making it difficult to detect. My question to attendees was how much harder is it to see coercive control when it’s cloaked in spiritual language and given theological justification?

There’s still a long way to go in terms of language, recognition, and response but conferences like this, where researchers, survivors, clinicians, and legal professionals are in conversation, feel like part of an important shift. It was so encouraging getting to connect with others doing this work and I’m grateful to be part of this community. The International Coercive Control Conference

💡Check out my interview with Karen for Just Separated. We talk about about reclaiming your mind from narcissists, cults, and spiritual abusers. We explore abuse by proxy, spiritual control, cults, and Dr. Jane Monckton's domestic homicide timeline. divorceworkshop.ca

⚠️Trigger Warning for violence, strangulation, and domestic homicide.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0nUtlnCx2gv5PO9G9vJOJl?si=db13a22df8274a84

As women age, they do not lose the ability or willingness to cooperate with healthy leadership for the good of the family, church, or community.

They DO, however, become harder to deceive, manipulate, oppress, and coercively control.

Just depends on what you're looking for, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️

DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender) is not just interpersonal manipulation, it is foundational to the architecture of coercive control. It protects the abuser, punishes the victim, discourages witnesses, and ensures the system bends toward silence. It is part of the invisible psychological cage that is coercive control, with it fueling confusion, doubt and fear in the target’s mind.

DARVO, when left unidentified and unchallenged, especially from a platform and place of power, works as a form of social proof in group settings. It protects the abusers narrative and sends the message that calling out harmful behaviour will end badly for the person who speaks up. This is how DARVO in an institutional setting like a faith community, or even a workplace, shapes the observers’ behaviour. It functions like a subtle threat to those watching to not challenge the abuser’s control over the narrative.

When a perpetrator performs DARVO publicly and faces no pushback, bystanders learn that siding with the victim is risky. Too often, those in power will circle the wagons to protect the abuser and the victim becomes even more socially isolated. We need to call it out when we see it and not allow it to shape the group psychology in a way that only emboldens the abuser.

This invaluable work by Jennifer Freyd provides us with critical understanding about this go-to tactic used by coercive and abusive individuals. I encourage anyone who works with survivors to make sure they have a strong grasp on the concept. It also can give survivors the language to understand their experiences which is incredibly validating and empowering.

https://www.jjfreyd.com/darvo

What if complementarianism operates as a spiritualized form of coercive control that reduces wives to a training ground for their husbands’ spiritual and leadership development?

from "The Wife as a Training Ground: Complementarian Theology and Coercive Control" in Priscilla Papers - CBE International

https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/the-wife-as-a-training-ground-complementarian-theology-and-coercive-control/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DF5tMppTtSC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

So encouraging when I see my writing and research sparking conversation! Thanks Orthodox Barbie.
[On complementarian marriage advice]: “This dynamic makes the wife vulnerable to coercive control because a representative measure of the husband’s headship is how much his wife submits to him. Respect and compliance to his desires highlights the husband’s authority and points to successful headship. This also includes his ability to bring a non-compliant wife back into submission. Any reactive reinforcement of his authority can be normalized and rationalized as him acting within his entitled role, for everyone’s spiritual growth. This spiritual justification can provide cover for a husband’s entitlement to control his wife.” – Bethany Jantzi
From: https://www.cbeinternational.org/.../the-wife-as-a.../

[On complementarian marriage advice]: “This dynamic makes the wife vulnerable to coercive control because a representative measure of the husband’s headship is how much his wife submits to him. Respect and compliance to his desires highlights the husband’s authority and points to successful headship. This also includes his ability to bring a non-compliant wife back into submission. Any reactive reinforcement of his authority can be normalized and rationalized as him acting within his entitled role, for everyone’s spiritual growth. This spiritual justification can provide cover for a husband’s entitlement to control his wife.” – Bethany Jantzi

From: https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/the-wife-as-a-training-ground-complementarian-theology-and-coercive-control/

Our faith communities should value us for more than our compliance and conformity.

From "Cults, Coercive Persuasion, and Patriarchy" in CBE International's Mutuality Magazine.

https://www.cbeinternational.org/person/bethany-jantzi/

My article for CBE International's Mutuality Magazine is up! 🎉

🎯 I explore how coercive persuasion—the set of psychological tactics often used in cults and high-control groups—can also be found in certain religious systems, particularly complementarian theology.

⛪️ I unpack how systems that promise safety and belonging can actually function to control and diminish women under the guise of spiritual protection.

🔎 Drawing on research from cult dynamics and coercive control, I examine how tactics like diminishing personhood, undermining autonomy, suppressing critical thinking, using fear, and conditioning compliance are used to uphold male dominance.

💡My hope in writing this is to help readers recognize the harm in these dynamics and advocate for faith communities that honour autonomy, critical thinking, and the full humanity of each person.

https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/cults-coercive-persuasion-and-patriarchy/