Coercive Control Field Check / VPO
Category 15
Violation of Protective or Restraining Orders
Protective orders exist to restore liberty. Violation, outright or through technical compliance that defies the order's protective purpose, continues the regime after separation. The message the target receives is that no one, including the court, can provide protection.
Douglas 2018; Katz et al. 2020; Miller & Smolter 2011; Stark 2007.
VPO-1
Outright Violation of a Protective or Restraining Order
Any contact, approach, communication, or conduct that directly breaches the explicit terms of a civil or criminal protective or restraining order.
VPO-2
Marginal or Technical Compliance That Violates the Spirit of the Order
Conduct that stays within the boundaries of the literal wording of a protective or restraining order while defying the spirit of its protective purpose. Common forms include transforming child-centered communication limitations into a regime of masked harassment, staging "coincidental" appearances, orchestrating or trying to orchestrate joint child-related meetings that the order restricts, framed as "for the children. "
Literature this family is drawn from
- Douglas, H. (2018). Legal systems abuse and coercive control. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 18(1), 84-99.
- Miller, S. L., & Smolter, N. L. (2011). “Paper abuse”: When all else fails, batterers use procedural stalking. Violence Against Women, 17(5), 637-650.
Carlton, C. (2026). Coercive Control Field Check: VPO Violation of Protective or Restraining Orders. Coercive Control Observatory. Last reviewed August 31, 2026.