The four working parts

Isolation. Contact with family, friends, colleagues and community gets reduced. It usually arrives with a reason that sounds caring. Your friend is not good for you. Your family stir things up. We do not need anyone else.

Micro regulation. Rules appear. About money, clothes, food, the phone, sleep, where you go, who you speak to, and often about worship. Nobody announces the rules. They arrive one at a time, each with a reason.

Surveillance. Phone checks, location sharing, turning up, and the questions about your day that are not really questions.

Intimidation and consequence. Not necessarily a blow. A look. A raised voice. A broken plate. A threat to take the children, to tell your family, to report your status, to close the account.