Coercive and controlling behaviour: Literary, psychological and legal interpretation and The Man Who Loved Children

The identification and visibility of offending behaviour is dependent upon cultural norms. Recent jurisprudential and statutory developments reflect an expansion of potential understanding of forms of domestic abuse hitherto unrecognised, namely ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’, nevertheless full appreciation of the harms inflicted by such behaviours requires continued understanding, particularly in relation to what may appear to be the ‘milder’, more insidious forms. A prescient illustration of the subtle nature of coercive control and of its association with narcissistic personalities is provided by the novel The Man Who Loved Children1 by the Australian author Christina Stead, published in 1940. Whilst caselaw and juristic commentaries work to engage the concept, this novel anatomises how seemingly benign behaviours and personalities may subject those close to them, especially mothers and children, to serious psychological harm. In particular, the novel illustrates the operation of narcissism and contextualises the difficulties confronting family members, courts and academics attempting to capture, linguistically, these subtle behaviours.