Three cases documented by Thrive After Domestic Violence in 2025 align with a growing body of research linking childhood trauma, coercive control and intergenerational abuse to adult homelessness. Together, the cases reflect how early exposure to abuse can contribute to housing instability decades later.
In 2025, Thrive After Domestic Violence documented a pattern contributing to adult homelessness that remains underrecognized in housing and family-violence systems: adults who experienced abuse in childhood, remained in contact with an abusive parent, and later lost housing as adults.
The organization supported three adults of different ages, genders and cultural backgrounds who shared similar trajectories. In each case, abuse persisted into adulthood and escalated into financial control, false allegations, unemployment and homelessness. All three individuals were unemployed at the time Thrive became involved. Thrive provided domestic violence counseling, homelessness intervention and employment support in all cases, and assistance accessing substance-use treatment in one case.
Researchers say these cases align with a growing body of evidence linking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and coercive control to housing instability later in life.
ACEs refer to potentially traumatic events occurring before age 18, including physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence and household dysfunction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 61% of U.S. adults report at least one ACE and 16% report four or more.
A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that adults with four or more ACEs were more than twice as likely to experience homelessness compared with those reporting none. A 2020 study in BMC Public Health examining homeless populations found that rates of childhood abuse and household dysfunction were two to three times higher among unhoused adults than in the general population.
Researchers studying family violence increasingly report that the effects of coercive control in childhood often persist into adulthood, particularly when abusive parents remain involved in their children’s lives.
“As we see more of the sandwich generation’s parent age, I think this is a topic we should explore heavily,” noted Doreen Hunter, Founder and Chair of Thrive After DV. “Coercive control does not end when childhood ends, its impacts often follow survivors into adulthood. Now we see how damaging it is when coercive control follows children into adulthood.”
Dr. Emma Katz, a leading researcher on coercive control, has documented how coercive control reshapes a child’s development by limiting autonomy, safety and decision-making over time. In a 2016 study published in Child Abuse Review, Katz found that children exposed to coercive control experienced long-term constraints on education, independence and emotional development. Subsequent research published in the Journal of Family Violence in 2022 found that adults raised under coercively controlling parenting were more likely to experience disrupted employment and economic instability.
Less frequently examined is the impact of abusive parents in later life on their adult children. A 2019 study in The Gerontologist found that adult children with histories of childhood abuse were at significantly higher risk of revictimization when serving as caregivers. A 2020 review in the Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect reported that abusive elderly parents may escalate emotional abuse, financial exploitation and false allegations to retain control.
Researchers say homelessness prevention programs rarely screen for family-of-origin abuse or coercive control, despite evidence linking both to housing instability. A 2021 analysis in Housing Policy Debate found that failure to account for ACE exposure and long-term family abuse leads to missed prevention opportunities.
“The lack of proper screening can be attributed to the myth that the older a person gets the more unlikely that they are an abuser,” said Hunter, “Abusive parents do not necessarily become less abusive with age; in many cases, control escalates.”
Thrive After Domestic Violence said it plans to continue documenting intergenerational abuse patterns and incorporating ACE- and coercive-control-informed screening into its stabilization work.
Editor’s Note:
The cases discussed were shared with the informed consent of the individuals involved and are presented to support public education and research-informed discussion on childhood trauma, coercive control and adult homelessness. Identifying details have been altered to protect privacy.
What Is Coercive Control and How Does It Relate to Homelessness?
Coercive control is a pattern of behavior used to dominate another person through emotional abuse, intimidation, isolation, financial control and manipulation rather than isolated acts of physical violence.
Research shows coercive control can limit a child’s autonomy, disrupt education and employment, and increase long-term vulnerability to housing instability. When coercive control continues into adulthood through abusive parents or caregiving relationships, the risk of sudden displacement increases.
Coercive control is now widely recognized by researchers, courts and policymakers as a central driver of harm in domestic and family abuse cases. National education efforts, including America’s Conference to End Coercive Control, focus on addressing its long-term impacts across legal, housing and social systems.
