Characteristics of persons accused of intimate partner homicide amongst forensic psychiatric observations

Background: Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a global public health problem. One study conducted over 66 countries found that 13.5% of all homicides and 38.6% of female homicides were committed by an intimate partner. In South Africa, there were no published studies that examine alleged perpetrators of IPH that were referred for forensic psychiatric observation.Aim: To describe the profile of accused persons referred for forensic psychiatric observation for a charge of murder or attempted murder of their intimate partners. Certain characteristics were further examined according to the psychiatric observation outcomes.Setting: The study was conducted at Sterkfontein Hospital, a forensic psychiatric hospital in Gauteng, South Africa.Methods: A retrospective record review of accused persons referred for forensic psychiatric observation for a charge of murder or attempted murder of their intimate partners was conducted. The period of the review was 19 years. The definition of intimate partners included current or former spouses and partners, same-sex partners and rejected suitors.Results: One hundred and sixty-three files, which included forensic psychiatric reports, were reviewed. The findings related to the profile of accused persons and offence characteristics indicated that: (1) history of violent behaviour is prevalent; (2) homicides mostly occur in private homes; (3) knives and firearms are most often used; (4) infidelity, separation and jealousy are common motives; (5) psychotic disorders, personality disorders and substance use disorders feature prominently. A total of 88% of the sample were found fit to stand trial and 82% were found criminally responsible. Factors significantly associated with being found fit to stand trial and criminally responsible following the forensic psychiatric observation were: male gender, having received a tertiary education, employment prior to the offence, earning a salary of more than R10 000, having no previous psychiatric or medical illness, a positive forensic history, previous intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, indicating a motive for the homicide, having no psychiatric illness at the time of the offence which would impact fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility.Factors significantly associated with being found not fit to stand trial and not criminally responsible following the forensic psychiatric observation were: female gender, having received a primary education, unemployment prior to the offence, having a previous psychiatric or medical illness, no forensic history, no previous IPV perpetration, not indicating a motive for the homicide, having a psychiatric illness at the time of the offence which would impact fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility.Conclusion: The characteristics highlighted in this study can contribute to the development of risk assessment tools which can be used to identify likely perpetrators of IPH. Other interventions, for example controlling access to knives and firearms, reducing substance abuse and improving mental health services, are also important in the prevention of IPH.

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Intimate Femicide: The Role of Coercive Control

Feminist Criminology ◽

10.1177/1557085117701574 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 3-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Holly Johnson ◽

Li Eriksson ◽

Paul Mazerolle ◽

Richard Wortley

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Battered Woman ◽

Risk Assessments ◽

Sexual Assaults ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Intimate Partners ◽

Coercive Control ◽

Policy Responses

Severe and escalating violence is cited as a precursor to intimate partner homicide and figures prominently in risk assessments and domestic violence death reviews. Drawing on interviews from the Australian Homicide Project with a sample of men convicted of killing intimate partners, we examine the backgrounds of perpetrators and the contexts in which the killings occurred and find that fully half report no physical or sexual assaults against their partners in the year prior to the homicide. These results raise important questions about assessments of risk and the typification of the “battered woman” on which many policy responses rely.

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At-A-Glance: Recent Research Findings: The Decline of Intimate Partner Homicide

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e536402006-009 ◽

2005 ◽

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Research Findings

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Intimate Partner Violence and Its Under-Reporting in Pakistan

European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research ◽

10.26417/ejser.v12i1.p254-260 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 254

Author(s):

Abdul Hadi

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Relationship ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Power Relationship ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Patriarchal System ◽

Attempted Murder ◽

Gender Based ◽

Private Matter

Intimate Partner violence is not a culturally limited practice, but prevails in every country, irrespective of culture, class, and ethnicity. Violence is one of the mechanisms used by men to control and subjugate women; and is a manifestation of unequal power relationship sustained by patriarchy. Patriarchy makes violence necessary for the sake of its existence. Intimate partner violence, the most common forms of gender-based violence entails the exertion of power over a partner in an intimate relationship through a behavior that is intimidating, threatening, harassing or harmful. The spouse can be harmed physically, as well sexually, emotionally, and psychologically, the violence can occur multiple times. Intimate partner violence in Pakistan persists almost in every family because women have subjugated and vulnerable status and are generally treated as second class citizens. Generally, the occurrence of violence at home is effectively condoned and regarded it as ‘private matter’ which does not require any intervention. it is seldom recognized as a crime socially unless it takes an extreme form of murder or attempted murder which could range from driving a woman to suicide or engineering an accident (frequently the bursting of a kitchen stove). This study aims to find out the factors which precipitate Intimate partner violence in Pakistan and what are the factors which preclude the reporting of Intimate partner violence and seeking legal redress. This study has found that strict cultural and patriarchal system and values precipitate intimate partner violence and also preclude victims to report the incidences by not giving them appropriate moral, cultural and legal support.

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Is Homicide Followed by Suicide a Phenomenon in Itself? A Comparison of Homicide and Homicide–Suicide in Spain

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260520983250 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 088626052098325

Author(s):

Jorge Santos-Hermoso ◽

José Luis González-Álvarez ◽

Ángel García-Collantes ◽

Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles

Keyword(s):

Family Relationships ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Domestic Sphere ◽

Interpersonal Conflicts ◽

Old Spanish ◽

Low Prevalence ◽

Civil Guard ◽

National Police ◽

Commit Suicide

The phenomenon of homicide followed by suicide (HS) has a low prevalence worldwide, although the literature has identified that these cases represent a significant percentage in homicide subtypes such as intimate partner homicide or filicide. In the present study, HS ( n = 41) and homicides in which the perpetrator did not commit suicide after the event ( n = 556) are compared. The information was extracted from police reports of homicides committed in Spain between 2010 and 2012 and belonging to the jurisdictions of the National Police and Civil Guard. The results showed that out of the total number of homicides analyzed, HS accounted for 4.9%, which implies a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 inhabitants. The findings of the study show that the profile of a HS victim of a 52-year-old Spanish woman. The perpetrator is of Spanish origin, 50 years old, unemployed, or retired, with a mental disorder, and with substance use being common at the time of the event. HS events take place at the perpetrator’s home, are related to interpersonal conflicts, involve a single perpetrator, several victims, and are mainly committed with a firearm. The findings are mostly consistent with previous studies and the prevalence of HS in the couple setting is highlighted (56.5%). However, the importance of studying cases outside of this setting is emphasized since it has been found that 30.5% of cases involve other family relationships and 13% occurred outside the domestic sphere.

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Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-associated Intimate Partner Homicide

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260521990831 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052199083

Author(s):

Aaron J. Kivisto ◽

Samantha Mills ◽

Lisa S. Elwood

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Ethnic Minority ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

White Women ◽

The United States ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Homicide Victimization ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Racial Ethnic

Pregnancy-associated femicide accounts for a mortality burden at least as high as any of the leading specific obstetric causes of maternal mortality, and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of these homicides. This study examined pregnancy-associated and non-pregnancy-associated intimate partner homicide (IPH) victimization among racial/ethnic minority women relative to their non-minority counterparts using several sources of state-level data from 2003 through 2017. Data regarding partner homicide victimization came from the National Violent Death Reporting System, natality data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and relevant sociodemographic information was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Findings indicated that pregnancy and racial/ethnic minority status were each associated with increased risk for partner homicide victimization. Although rates of non-pregnancy-associated IPH victimization were similar between Black and White women, significant differences emerged when limited to pregnancy-associated IPH such that Black women evidenced pregnancy-associated IPH rates more than threefold higher than that observed among White and Hispanic women. Relatedly, the largest intraracial discrepancies between pregnant and non-pregnant women emerged among Black women, who experienced pregnancy-associated IPH victimization at a rate 8.1 times greater than their non-pregnant peers. These findings indicate that the racial disparities in IPH victimization in the United States observed in prior research might be driven primarily by the pronounced differences among the pregnant subset of these populations.

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Effect of Psychiatric Illness on Acute Care Utilization at End of Life From Serious Medical Illness

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management ◽

10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.04.003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 176-185.e1 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Kyle Lavin ◽

Dimitry S. Davydow ◽

Lois Downey ◽

Ruth A. Engelberg ◽

Ben Dunlap ◽

...

Keyword(s):

End Of Life ◽

Acute Care ◽

Psychiatric Illness ◽

Care Utilization ◽

Medical Illness ◽

Acute Care Utilization

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Homicide in Australia 2017-18

10.52922/sr04459 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Samantha Bricknell

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Homicide Rate ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Australian Capital Territory ◽

National Data ◽

Australian Capital ◽

Australian State

The National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) is Australia’s only national data collection on homicide incidents, victims and offenders. This report describes the 196 homicide incidents recorded by Australian state and territory police (except Australian Capital Territory) between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. During this 12-month period there were 202 victims of homicide and 213 identified offenders. All but two incidents involved a single victim and offender and three-quarters of homicide victims knew the offender. The intimate partner homicide rate for women was 0.33 per 100,000, the lowest rate recorded since the commencement of the NHMP in 1989–90.

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Gun Homicide Research: What We Know and Where We Need to Go

Homicide Studies ◽

10.1177/10887679211048495 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 108876792110484

Author(s):

Shani Buggs ◽

April M. Zeoli

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Risk Factors ◽

The United States ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Gun Violence ◽

The State ◽

Intimate Partner Homicide ◽

Mass Shootings ◽

Future Directions

Guns are used in the majority of homicides in the United States, making the problem of homicide largely a problem of gun violence. This article presents three types of gun homicide (mass shootings, intimate partner homicide, and community gun violence), and briefly discusses the state of knowledge on their risk factors and promising interventions. Future directions for research are presented, focusing on examining differential implementation and impacts of interventions by racialized groups and communities, as well as interrogating conventional approaches and methodologies.

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