# Power and Control Wheel *Graphic of battering tactics created in Duluth, Minnesota, in the early 1980s for a court-ordered program for men who batter.* The Power and Control Wheel is a graphic that its publisher, Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs of Duluth, describes as visually representing "the tactics typically used by men who batter." The publisher states that [[Ellen Pence]], Coral McDonnell and [[Michael Paymar]] created it in 1982 as part of a curriculum for a court-ordered program for men who batter. It was built from the accounts of battered women attending support and educational groups in Duluth.[^1] The wheel belongs to the [[Duluth model]], an inter-agency response to domestic violence that its authors say became "the most replicated woman abuse intervention model in the country."[^2] The sources disagree on the date of origin. This article uses 1982, the year given in the publisher's document on the wheel's development.[^1] The program's 2017 chronology places the wheel's development in 1983 and attributes it to women in the neighborhood groups.[^3] A project time-table row citing Wikipedia gives 1981, with Pence as developer.[^4] A second time-table row, citing the program's history page, gives 1982 as the year of publication.[^5] The publisher writes that "The wheel is not a theory. It is a conceptual tool."[^1] The Duluth Model document describing the system the wheel serves gives a different account. It says that system rests on "largely shared assumptions and theories about the source of battering."[^2] Its strategic principles include "Mandatory arrest for primary aggressors" and court-ordered educational groups for men who batter.[^6] Minnesota law now requires such programs as a condition of a stayed sentence for a domestic abuse offense. The statute's text in the pack does not name the wheel or the Duluth Model.[^7] ## Who - The publisher names Ellen Pence, Coral McDonnell and Michael Paymar as the designers of the graphic. It states that they revised the graphic over several weeks "until the groups of women were satisfied the wheel captured their experience of living with a man who batters."[^1] - The program's 2017 chronology credits women in the neighborhood-based groups with developing the wheel in 1983. Those groups were organized in 1981 for women using the court system but not staying at the shelter.[^3] - Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1980 under the name Minnesota Program Development, Inc. The [[Domestic Abuse Intervention Project]] was its first project.[^8] - The program's recognitions page calls Pence the Duluth Model's founder and DAIP's former director. It states that Paymar worked at DAIP and the [[Battered Women's Justice Project]] for over 30 years, and that the two co-authored *Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model*.[^9] ## What - The publisher says the wheel helps people "see the patterns in behavior and their significance." It adds that the wheel is not meant to capture every tactic of control.[^1] - The tactics described alongside violence include: - money; - the children; - emotional and psychological put-downs; - undermining self-worth; - constant criticism of women's mothering; - intimidation; - forms of expressing male privilege.[^1] - The publisher states: "The wheel was based on women's experience in hetero-sexual intimate partner relationships."[^1] - The same document states that the battered women did not identify a desire for power or control as their partners' motive. In its account, men who batter gained power and control as an outcome of the behaviors.[^1] - In 1984 the designers developed an Equality Wheel. In 1995 Lakota users at Pine Ridge reshaped the Power and Control wheel into a triangle.[^10] - The publisher calls the wheel "the most widely known graphic in the world representing the experience of battered women."[^10] - The 1981 groups for men who batter were later combined with the educational model in the facilitator's manual *Power and Control: Tactics of Men Who Batter* (1986; update 1993).[^11] - In 2003 that curriculum was renamed *Creating a Process of Change for Men Who Batter*.[^11] - In 2006 a Christian supplement, *Changing Men, Changing Lives*, was added.[^11] ## When - **2 June 1977.** The [[Minnesota Legislature]]'s Laws 1977, chapter 428 (S.F. No. 124) was approved. - It directed the commissioner of corrections to designate four pilot programs providing emergency shelter and support services to battered women. - It defined a battered woman as a woman assaulted by her spouse, another male relative, or a male with whom she resides or has resided. - It required hospitals, physicians, public health nurses and local law enforcement agencies to collect data on battered women.[^12] - **1980.** The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project organized under Minnesota Program Development, Inc. At the request of the Duluth shelter (Women's Coalition), Duluth was selected as the site for a pilot criminal justice reform project.[^13] - **1981.** Duluth police issued a mandatory arrest policy. Eight agencies formed a network under experimental guidelines, and three mental health centers started groups for men who batter.[^13] - **1982.** Nine agencies agreed to make the experimental policies permanent. The court raised mandated abuser sessions from eight to twelve weeks.[^13] The publisher dates the graphic's creation to this year.[^1] - **1983.** The 2017 chronology dates the wheel's development to this year.[^3] - **1984.** The Equality Wheel was developed.[^10] - **1985.** The court raised mandated sessions from twelve to twenty-six weeks. The prosecutor's "no drop" policy was eliminated, and the chronology records that "conviction rates gradually fall from 80% to below 47%."[^14] - **1987.** The prosecutor's office returned to subpoenaing victims.[^14] - **1989.** The Duluth police department adopted a policy that eliminates arrests in self-defense cases.[^14] - **1993.** *Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model* was published by Springer Publishing Company.[^9] - **2001–2026.** Minnesota Statutes § 518B.02 was enacted at 1Sp2001 c 8 art 10 s 6 and later changed: - subdivision 3 was amended by 2013 c 125 art 1 s 82; - subdivision 3 was repealed by 2023 c 52 art 5 s 80; - subdivision 2 was amended by 2026 c 97 art 1 s 20. The text in the pack is the 2025 edition. The pack does not record the governors or legislative majorities for these acts or for the 1977 act.[^15] - **2003.** The men's curriculum was renamed.[^11] - **2014.** The Duluth Model was awarded the Future Policy Award for Ending Violence against Women and Girls (the Gold Award) out of 25 international nominations. The award was presented by the World Futures Council, United Nations Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.[^16] The 2017 chronology describes the same recognition as being named "World's Best Policy."[^17] ## Where - The publisher locates the wheel's origin among women's groups in Duluth, Minnesota.[^1] - The Duluth Model document describes the city as a small working-class city in northern Minnesota, where the model was conceived and implemented in 1980–81.[^2] - In 1982 DAIP consulted with Range Women Advocates to adapt the model in four rural mining communities in northern Minnesota.[^13] - The program states that its work is now found in every state.[^8] - The 1977 act required one of the four pilot shelter programs to be in a city outside the seven-county metropolitan area. It required another to be in a location accessible to a predominately rural population.[^12] ## Why - The publisher states that the women were asked, "What do you want taught in court ordered groups for men who batter?" Their answers called for bringing "the complex reality of battering out into the open."[^1] - The Duluth Model document states the system's goals: to protect victims, to hold perpetrators and practitioners accountable, to offer offenders an opportunity to change, and to "ensure due process for offenders."[^18] - The same document states that the model "has not been successful everywhere."[^18] - The record does not establish any purpose for the wheel beyond the stated purpose of the curriculum. ## How - The Duluth Model coordinates agencies through eight core methods. These include written policies for each point of intervention, an inter-agency tracking system, and training across agencies.[^6] - Its fourth principle lists measures for holding abusers accountable: - mandatory arrest for primary aggressors; - evidence-based prosecution; - escalating jail sentences; - court-ordered educational groups for men who batter.[^6] - Section 518B.02 requires court-ordered programs to have written policies requiring that counselors and facilitators "hold offenders and abusing parties solely responsible for their behavior."[^19] - The statute requires programs to "provide separate sessions for male and female offenders and abusing parties."[^19] - The statute requires programs to coordinate with the courts, probation, battered women's and domestic abuse programs, and child protection services.[^19] ## How much - The 1977 act appropriated $500,000 for the biennium ending June 30, 1979. It capped education grants at $50,000 and administration at 15 percent.[^12] - Federal funding recorded by the program: - 1993: the Department of Health and Human Services funded MPDI to form the Battered Women's Justice Project.[^20] - 1996: the U.S. Department of Justice's Violence Against Indian Women Office funded the Mending the Sacred Hoop technical assistance project.[^20] - 1999: the [[National Institute of Justice]] awarded MPDI a grant.[^20] - 2011: Duluth was selected as one of three national sites for the Blueprint for Safety Adaptation Demonstration Initiative of the [[Office on Violence Against Women]].[^21] - Witness-intimidation pilot: the [[Bureau of Justice Assistance]] funded the Improving the Justice System Response to Witness Intimidation pilot.[^21] - In 1990 the Minnesota Lawyer's Trust Fund gave DAIP a grant for prosecutors' guidelines.[^20] - In 2023 the Northland Foundation awarded the Carlton County Attorney's Office and DAIP a $150,000 grant to examine county domestic violence practices.[^21] ## How many - **Founding agencies.** The Duluth Model document states that eleven agencies formed the initial initiative.[^2] The 2017 chronology instead records eight agencies in 1981 and nine in 1982.[^13] - **Required programming.** Duluth's court-mandated sessions rose from eight weeks to twelve in 1982 and to twenty-six in 1985.[^13][^14] Section 518B.02 sets a statewide minimum of 24 sessions or 36 hours, unless a probation agent recommends fewer.[^19] - **Translations.** The publisher states that the wheels have been translated into over 30 languages and over 20 cultural contexts.[^10] - **Adaptations.** The National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence publishes a collection of "wheels" adapted from the model.[^22] Healing the Healers publishes a handout titled *The Power and Control Wheel: Understanding Domestic Abuse*.[^23] ## Notes [^1]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *The Development of the Power and Control and Equality Wheels* (undated) — the 1982 creation by Pence, McDonnell and Paymar, the design process, the tactics, "not a theory," and the heterosexual basis. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Development-of-the-Power-and-Control.pdf [^2]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *The Duluth Model* (undated), by Ellen Pence — self-description as "the most replicated" model, its shared assumptions and theories, the eleven founding agencies, and the 1980–81 origin. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Duluth-Model.pdf [^3]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the 1983 entry on development of the wheel by the neighborhood groups, and the 1981 organization of those groups. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^4]: Wikipedia, *Duluth model* — cited by project time-table row TL-0393 for a 1981 date with Ellen Pence as developer; the article text is not in the pack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model [^5]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History* (web page, undated) — cited by time-table row TL-0412 and claim MC-21 for the wheel's origin and 1982 publication; page text not in the pack. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/history/ [^6]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *The Duluth Model* (undated) — the eight core coordinating methods and the four strategic principles, including mandatory arrest and court-ordered groups for men who batter. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Duluth-Model.pdf [^7]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 518B.02* (2025) — subd. 1, requiring a court-ordered domestic abuse counseling or educational program as a condition of a stayed sentence. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518B.02 [^8]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History, Benchmarks, and Recognitions* (2025) — 1980 incorporation as Minnesota Program Development, Inc.; DAIP as first project; work found in every state. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/recognitions/ [^9]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History, Benchmarks, and Recognitions* (2025) — Pence as founder and former director; Paymar's 30-plus years at DAIP and BWJP; co-authored works; the 1993 Springer book. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/recognitions/ [^10]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *The Development of the Power and Control and Equality Wheels* (undated) — the 1984 Equality Wheel, the 1995 Lakota triangle, translations, and "most widely known graphic." https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Development-of-the-Power-and-Control.pdf [^11]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the men's curriculum manuals, the 2003 renaming, and the 2006 Christian supplement. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^12]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1977, chapter 428* (approved June 2, 1977) — battered-women pilot programs, the statutory definition, mandatory data collection, and the $500,000 appropriation. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1977/0/428 [^13]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the 1980–82 entries: pilot site selection, mandatory arrest, agency counts, session changes, and the Range Women Advocates adaptation. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^14]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the 1985 session change and conviction rates, 1987 victim subpoenas, and the 1989 self-defense arrest policy. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^15]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 518B.02* (2025) — version list and history: 1Sp2001 c 8 art 10 s 6; 2013 c 125 art 1 s 82; 2023 c 52 art 5 s 80; 2026 c 97 art 1 s 20. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518B.02 [^16]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History, Benchmarks, and Recognitions* (2025) — the 2014 Future Policy Award (Gold Award), out of 25 nominations. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/recognitions/ [^17]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the 2014 entry naming the coordinated community response "World's Best Policy." https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^18]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *The Duluth Model* (undated) — the stated goals of intervention and the statement that the model "has not been successful everywhere." https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Duluth-Model.pdf [^19]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 518B.02, subd. 2* (2025) — program standards: the 24-session or 36-hour minimum, sole responsibility, separate male and female sessions, and coordination duties. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518B.02 [^20]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History and Recognition* (2017) — the 1990 Lawyer's Trust Fund grant, 1993 HHS funding, 1996 DOJ VAIWO funding, and the 1999 NIJ grant. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^21]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, *History, Benchmarks, and Recognitions* (2025) — the 2011 OVW Blueprint site selection, BJA funding of the witness-intimidation pilot, and the 2023 $150,000 Northland Foundation grant. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/recognitions/ [^22]: National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, *"Wheels" Adapted from Power and Control Wheel Model* (undated) — collection of adapted wheels (claim S-7753). https://www.ncdsv.org/wheels-adapted-from-power-and-control-wheel-model.html [^23]: Healing the Healers, *The Power and Control Wheel: Understanding Domestic Abuse* (2021) — handout reproducing the wheel (claim S-7752). https://healingthehealers.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HealingtheHealers_S2_PowerWheel.pdf