Dataset Information

When a Woman Kills Her Man: Gender and Victim Precipitation in Homicide.

ABSTRACT: This research revisited the claim that victim precipitation (VP) is especially prevalent in situations where women kill their male intimate partners. Using administrative data from the Finnish Homicide Monitor ( N =1,494), we created a typology of homicide incidents to examine variation in VP across three factors: the gender of the offender, the gender of the victim, and the intimacy of the victim-offender relationship. The results from regression models demonstrated strong support for the assumption that killings by women of their male intimate partners are more likely to have been victim precipitated than other types of homicide. This homicide type stood out as having the strongest association with each measure of VP included in the analysis. We did not observe statistically significant differences in VP among other homicide types. For example, we did not observe gender differences in VP in homicides that did not involve intimate partners. This pattern of results contradicts prior evidence suggesting that VP is a general feature of female-perpetrated killings, independent of the gender of the victim and the intimacy of the victim-offender relationship. As such, the present study underscores the importance of replication in studies of interpersonal violence. Theoretically, the results support the gender-partner interaction hypothesis over gender differences hypothesis of VP.

SUBMITTER: Suonpaa K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6537166 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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When a Woman Kills Her Man: Gender and Victim Precipitation in Homicide.

Suonpää Karoliina K Savolainen Jukka J

Journal of interpersonal violence 20190308 11

This research revisited the claim that victim precipitation (VP) is especially prevalent in situations where women kill their male intimate partners. Using administrative data from the Finnish Homicide Monitor ( N =1,494), we created a typology of homicide incidents to examine variation in VP across three factors: the gender of the offender, the gender of the victim, and the intimacy of the victim-offender relationship. The results from regression models demonstrated strong support for the assum ...[more]

PMID: 30845874

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Project description:BackgroundHomicide of children is a global problem. The under-5-y age group is the second largest homicide age group after 15-19 y olds, but has received little research attention. Understanding age and gender patterns is important for assisting with developing prevention interventions. Here we present an age and gender analysis of homicides among children under 5 y in South Africa from a national study that included a focus on neonaticide and infanticide.Methods and findingsA retrospective national cross-sectional study was conducted using a random sample of 38 medico-legal laboratories operating in 2009 to identify homicides of children under 5 y. Child data were abstracted from the mortuary files and autopsy reports, and both child and perpetrator data data were collected from police interviews. We erred towards applying a conservative definition of homicide and excluded sudden infant death syndrome cases. We estimated that 454 (95% CI 366, 541) children under the age of 5 y were killed in South Africa in 2009. More than half (53.2%; 95% CI 46.7%, 59.5%) were neonates (0-28 d), and 74.4% (95% CI 69.3%, 78.9%) were infants (under 1 y), giving a neonaticide rate of 19.6 per 100,000 live births and an infanticide rate of 28.4 per 100,000 live births. The majority of the neonates died in the early neonatal period (0-6 d), and abandonment accounted for 84.9% (95% CI 81.5%, 87.8%) of all the neonates killed. Distinct age and gender patterns were found, with significantly fewer boy children killed in rural settings compared to urban settings (odds ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.4, 0.9; p = 0.015). Abuse-related killings and evidence of sexual assault were more common among older girls than in all other age and gender groups. Mothers were identified as the perpetrators in all of the neonaticides and were the most common perpetrators overall (71.0%; 95% CI 63.9%, 77.2%). Abandoned neonates were mainly term babies, with a mean gestational age of 38 wk. We did not have information on abandonment motives for all newborns and did not know if babies were abandoned with the intention that they would die or with the hope that they would be found alive. We therefore considered all abandoned babies as homicides.ConclusionsHomicide of children is an extreme form or consequence of violence against children. This national study provides one of the first analyses of neonaticide and infanticide by age and gender and shows the failure of reproductive and mental health and social services to identify and help vulnerable mothers. Multi-sectoral prevention strategies are needed.

Project description:According to Social Role Theory, gender stereotypes are dynamic constructs influenced by actual and perceived changes in what roles women and men occupy (Wood and Eagly, 2011). Sweden is ranked as one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, with a strong national equality discourse and a relatively high number of men engaging in traditionally communal roles such as parenting and domestic tasks. This would imply a perceived change toward higher communion among men. Therefore, we investigated the dynamics of gender stereotype content in Sweden with a primary interest in the male stereotype and perceptions of gender equality. In Study 1, participants (N = 323) estimated descriptive stereotype content of women and men in Sweden in the past, present, or future. They also estimated gender distribution in occupations and domestic roles for each time-point. Results showed that the female stereotype increased in agentic traits from the past to the present, whereas the male stereotype showed no change in either agentic or communal traits. Furthermore, participants estimated no change in gender stereotypes for the future, and they overestimated how often women and men occupy gender non-traditional roles at present. In Study 2, we controlled for participants' actual knowledge about role change by either describing women's increased responsibilities on the job market, or men's increased responsibility at home (or provided no description). Participants (N = 648) were randomized to the three different conditions. Overall, women were perceived to increase in agentic traits, and this change was mediated by perceptions of social role occupation. Men where not perceived to increase in communion but decreased in agency when change focused on women's increased participation in the labor market. These results indicate that role change among women also influence perceptions of the male stereotype. Altogether, the results indicate that social roles might have stronger influence on perceptions of agency than perceptions of communion, and that communion could be harder to incorporate in the male stereotype.

Project description:Importance:Intimate partner violence during adolescence is widespread, and consequences can be severe. Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is the most extreme form of intimate partner violence, but literature on IPH has almost exclusively focused on adults. Objectives:To determine the proportion of adolescent homicides that is perpetrated by intimate partners and to describe the victim, perpetrator, and incident characteristics of these IPHs. Design, Setting, and Participants:Analysis of quantitative and qualitative surveillance data from the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003 to 2016. Data represent 32 states that contributed to the system for 1 year or longer. There were 8048 homicides of victims aged 11 to 24 years with a known relationship between the victim and perpetrator. For persons aged 11 to 18 years, there were 2188 homicides. Analysis began September 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures:An incident was identified as an IPH if the relationship between the perpetrator and victim was coded as spouse, ex-spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend, ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend, or girlfriend or boyfriend (unspecified current or former). Variables of interest included demographic characteristics (age, sex, race/ethnicity) for the victim and perpetrator, relationship status at time of death, homicide-suicide, homicide method, firearm type, and location of homicide. Contextual categories were created from the qualitative narratives. Results:Of adolescent homicides, 150 (6.9%) were classified as IPH. A total of 135 victims (90%) were female (mean [SD] age,?16.8 [1.3] years). Overall, 102 perpetrators (77.9%) were 18 years and older (mean [SD] age,?20.6 [5.0] years), and 94 (62.7%) were current intimate partners of the victim. Firearms, specifically handguns, were the most common mechanism of injury. Compared with IPHs of young adults aged 19 to 24 years, perpetrators of adolescent victims were younger and less likely to be a current intimate partner. The most common categories of adolescent IPH homicides were broken/desired relationship or jealousy and an altercation followed by reckless firearm behavior and pregnancy related. Conclusions and Relevance:Adolescents, particularly girls, in dating relationships may face risk of homicide, especially in circumstances of a breakup or jealousy and when perpetrators have access to firearms. Understanding homicide in early dating relationships can inform prevention and intervention efforts tailored to adolescents.

Dataset Information

When a Woman Kills Her Man: Gender and Victim Precipitation in Homicide.

Publications

When a Woman Kills Her Man: Gender and Victim Precipitation in Homicide.

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