coercion

{{Short description|Forcing involuntary behavior in another}}

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{{Other uses}}

{{Redirect|Duress}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Behavioural influences}}

Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner through the use of threats, including threats to use force against that party.{{cite web|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coercion |title= Definition of coercion|work=Merriam-Webster |date= December 2023| quote = the act, process, or power of coercing}}{{Cite book|last=Schelling|first=Thomas C.|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vm52s |title= Arms and Influence|date= 1966|publisher=Yale University Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctt5vm52s |jstor= j.ctt5vm52s|isbn=978-0-300-00221-8}}{{Cite book|last=Pape|first=Robert A.|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1287f6v|title=Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War|date= 1996 |publisher= Cornell University Press|isbn= 978-0-8014-3134-0|edition= 1|pages= 4|jstor= 10.7591/j.ctt1287f6v | quote = 'Coercion' means efforts to change the behavior of a state by manipulating costs and benefits.}} It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desired response. These actions may include extortion, blackmail, or even torture and sexual assault. Common-law systems codify the act of violating a law while under coercion as a duress crime.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Coercion used as leverage may force victims to act in a way contrary to their own interests. Coercion can involve not only the infliction of bodily harm, but also psychological abuse (the latter intended to enhance the perceived credibility of the threat). The threat of further harm may also lead to the acquiescence of the person being coerced. The concepts of coercion and persuasion are similar, but various factors distinguish the two. These include the intent, the willingness to cause harm, the result of the interaction, and the options available to the coerced party.{{Cite journal|last= Powers|first= Penny|date= 2007-06-12|title= Persuasion and Coercion: A Critical Review of Philosophical and Empirical Approaches|url= https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10730-007-9035-4|journal= HEC Forum|language= en|volume= 19|issue= 2|pages=125–143|doi=10.1007/s10730-007-9035-4|pmid= 17694994|s2cid= 32041658 |issn= 0956-2737|url-access= subscription}}{{Rp|page=126}}

Political authors such as John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, and Ronald Dworkin contend whether governments are inherently coercive.{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Christopher W. |date=January 2012 |title=State Coercion and Force |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0265052511000094/type/journal_article |journal=Social Philosophy and Policy |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=28–49 |doi=10.1017/S0265052511000094 |issn=0265-0525 |s2cid=143472087|url-access=subscription }}{{Rp|page=28}} In 1919, Max Weber (1864–1920), building on the view of Ihering (1818–1892),{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Stephen |author-link1=Stephen Park Turner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh5IAwAAQBAJ |title=Max Weber, Rationality and Modernity |last2=Factor |first2=Regis |date=4 April 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317833369 |editor-last1=Whimster |editor-first1=Sam |edition=reprint |publication-place=Abingdon |page=337 |chapter=Decisionism and Politics: Weber as Constitutional Theorist |quote=The state, as Ihering defined it, is an association that is distinguished as a type of association by its claim of an exclusive right to exercise certain forms of coercion. |access-date=28 March 2023 |orig-date=1987 |editor-last2=Lash |editor-first2=Scott |editor-link2=Scott Lash}} defined a state as "a human community that (successfully) claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force".

{{cite web |last=Weber |first=Max |author-link=Max Weber |year=1919 |orig-date=28 January 1919 |title=Politics as a Vocation |url=https://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Politics-as-a-Vocation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319092642/http://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Politics-as-a-Vocation.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2013 |access-date=28 March 2023 |quote=In the past, the most varied institutions – beginning with the sib – have known the use of physical force as quite normal. Today, however, we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.}}Quoted in: {{cite book |last1=Stanger |first1=Allison |author-link1=Allison Stanger |title=One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy |date=27 October 2009 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300156324 |page=45 |chapter=State Power in a Privatized World |quote=In Max Weber's classic definition, the state is 'a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a territory.' |access-date=28 March 2023 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foJOC--mQaEC&pg=PA45}} Morris argues that the state can operate through incentives rather than coercion.{{Rp|page=42}} Healthcare systems may use informal coercion to make a patient adhere to a doctor's treatment plan. Under certain circumstances, medical staff may use physical coercion to treat a patient involuntarily.,{{Cite journal |last1=Hotzy |first1=Florian |last2=Jaeger |first2=Matthias |date=2016 |title=Clinical Relevance of Informal Coercion in Psychiatric Treatment—A Systematic Review |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323809188 |journal=Frontiers in Psychiatry |volume=7 |pages=197 |doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00197 |issn=1664-0640 |pmc=5149520 |pmid=28018248 |doi-access=free}} a practice which raises ethical concerns.{{Cite journal |last1=Hem |first1=Marit Helene |last2=Molewijk |first2=Bert |last3=Pedersen |first3=Reidar |date=2014-12-04 |title=Ethical challenges in connection with the use of coercion: a focus group study of health care personnel in mental health care |journal=BMC Medical Ethics |volume=15 |pages=82 |doi=10.1186/1472-6939-15-82 |doi-access=free |issn=1472-6939 |pmc=4269949 |pmid=25475895}} Such practices has also been shown to cause moral distress among healthcare staff, especially when staff attitudes toward coercive measures are negative.{{Cite journal |last1=Eder |first1=Nora |last2=Nordenberg |first2=Kristin |last3=Långström |first3=Niklas |last4=Rozental |first4=Alexander |last5=Moell |first5=Astrid |date=2025-02-28 |title=Moral distress among inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry staff: a mixed-methods study of experiences and associated factors |journal=Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.1186/s13034-025-00868-7 |doi-access=free |issn=1753-2000 |pmc=11871634 |pmid=40022125}} To minimize the need for coercion in psychiatric care, various models such as Safewards {{Cite journal |last=Bowers |first=L. |date=August 2014 |title=S afewards: a new model of conflict and containment on psychiatric wards |journal=Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing |language=en |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=499–508 |doi=10.1111/jpm.12129 |issn=1351-0126 |pmc=4237187 |pmid=24548312}} and Six Core Strategies have been implemented with promising results.{{Cite journal |last1=Fletcher |first1=Justine |last2=Spittal |first2=Mathew |last3=Brophy |first3=Lisa |last4=Tibble |first4=Holly |last5=Kinner |first5=Stuart |last6=Elsom |first6=Steve |last7=Hamilton |first7=Bridget |date=October 2017 |title=Outcomes of the Victorian Safewards trial in 13 wards: Impact on seclusion rates and fidelity measurement |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/inm.12380 |journal=International Journal of Mental Health Nursing |language=en |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=461–471 |doi=10.1111/inm.12380 |pmid=28960739 |issn=1445-8330|url-access=subscription }}