Instrumental Non-Homicidal Offenders: Comparative Mapping Between Instrumental Homicide and Coercive Control

This paper provides a comparative criminological analysis exploring the structural parallels between instrumental homicide and coercive control. Both demonstrate goal-oriented domination characterised by entitlement, objectification, and control. Instrumental homicide represents the physical destruction of life to assert power, while coercive control enacts the psychological erasure of autonomy to achieve the same dominance through invisible means. The study situates coercive control as an instrumental, non-homicidal offence on a shared continuum with organised homicide, offering a basis for future forensic and legal reform.