Is it coercive control? / ECO / ECO-4
ECO-4
Coercing debt, forcing asset surrender, and destroying resources
Definition
Pressuring or forcing the target to sign documents, take on new debt, or surrender assets, and the direct theft or destruction of the target's resources.
How it operates
Coercing the target to sign loan papers, guarantees, refinancing documents, or other financial instruments. Forcing the target to take on new debt. Requiring the surrender of assets, property titles, or financial rights. Stealing money, property, or other resources. Destroying the target's property or financial resources.
Function
Create formal legal liability in the target's name or to strip the target of existing assets.
Harm
Legal responsibility for obligations the target did not freely accept, loss of property, and reduced capacity to leave or recover.
Why this is coercive control
Ordinary negotiation of shared assets or debts conducted without pressure or threat is not this conduct. The conduct here creates formal legal liability in the target's name or strips the target of existing assets.
Constructed example
“Sign the loan papers today. I need it to start a new business. Don't make this difficult.”
Fictitious. Written to illustrate the behavior. Not a case.
Adams, Littwin & Javorka 2020; Adams et al. 2008; Postmus et al. 2012; Hess & Del Rosario 2018; Littwin 2012; Stark 2007.
Literature this family is drawn from
- Stark, E. (2007). Coercive control: How men entrap women in personal life. Oxford University Press.
- Pence, E., & Paymar, M. (1993). Education groups for men who batter: The Duluth model. Springer.
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-1(b) (Jennifer’s Law, 2021).
Identifying a behavior described here does not establish a pattern of behavior and does not establish coercive control. A tactic is not a regime. The instrument consolidates peer-reviewed literature so a reader can check when in doubt. The instrument is not a coding manual. Carlton Research does not provide the instrument as a weapon.
© 2026 Carisa Carlton.
Carlton, C. (2026). Is it coercive control?: ECO-4. Carlton Research Instruments. /codebook/eco-4. Last reviewed August 31, 2026.