Conclusion

The outcomes for women tried for homicide as well as the types of homicides they were accused of changed dramatically over the centuries. Overall women grew less likely to be convicted of murder, and those convicted of murder, far less likely to be executed. Women were also more often found insane. But analysis of different categories reveals that changes in the treatment of neonaticides as well as an enormous increase in the rate at which women were prosecuted for killing their own children accounted for the most dramatic changes in verdicts. By the early twentieth century, prosecutions in both categories were beginning to decline as the amount of support increased and unwed mothers were viewed more sympathetically. But increased concern for the survival of children had led to more prosecutions and harsher sentences for caregivers accused in the deaths of their charges. The number of women prosecuted for killing non-related adults fell. Women accused of non-domestic homicides were usually seen as having been unduly influenced by men. The few women who committed murder on their own were viewed as monsters. Spousal homicide was the category in which the prosecution rate showed the least fluctuation. The outcomes for women convicted of killing their husbands changed dramatically but this category seems particularly resistant to outside influence. It seems likely that prosecution rates fluctuated more than actual homicide rates and some of the stereotypes regarding women and lethal violence seem to reflect real differences between men and women as opposed to gender constructs.

An exploration of Thai public perceptions of defenses in cases of women who kill their domestically violent spouses

The present study investigated the issue of domestic violence in Thailand and in particular the reactions of the Thai populace (male versus female) to a battered woman who killed her abusive spouse, as well as how such reactions could be influenced by the presentation of expert testimony related to the battered woman syndrome. Cluster sampling conducted within the Bangkok metropolitan area in Thailand yielded a sample of 1190 participants who voluntarily filled in the study’s questionnaire. Multi-group path analysis showed no significant gender difference in the direct influence of battered woman syndrome information on the verdict/judgment rendered and suggests that the provision of such information in spousal homicide trials within the Thai context may not be efficacious in influencing the participants’ verdict judgments. Results however did indicate an indirect effect of the battered woman syndrome information on the verdict/judgment rendered being mediated by the defense strategy of self-defense. This finding indicated that the battered woman syndrome information presented aided the participants in contextualizing the defendant’s killing in a frame of self-defense, rather than inappropriately applying a form of “reasonableness” in their verdict/judgment. These findings are discussed in relation to their implications for the presentation of battered woman syndrome information in trials of Thai battered women who killed their abusive spouses.

A Case of Culture

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of cultural evidence toward an automatism defense, and whether such evidence would be detrimental or beneficial to a male versus a female defendant. U.S. participants ( N = 208), recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, read a fictional spousal homicide case in which the defendant claimed to have blacked out during the crime. We manipulated the gender of the defendant and whether a culture-specific issue was claimed to have precipitated the defendant’s blackout. ANOVAs revealed that cultural evidence positively affected perceived credibility for the female defendant, whereas there were no differences for the male defendant. Results also demonstrated that when cultural evidence was presented, the female defendant was seen as less in control of her actions than was the male defendant. Furthermore, lower credibility and higher perceived defendant control predicted harsher verdict decisions. This investigation may aid scholars in discussing concerns regarding a clash between multicultural and feminist objectives in the courtroom.

Homicide-Suicide

Homicide-suicide entails a homicide followed by the perpetrator’s suicide within one week. The incidence of homicide-suicide in the US was 0.23% per 100,000 in 2013 (about 5% of all US homicides). In Western Europe and other low violence countries, such as Japan, homicide-suicides make up a much higher proportion of all homicides. Subtypes are filicidal, spousal (including jealous and declining health subtypes), familial, and extrafamilial homicide-suicide. Spousal homicide-suicides are the most common, yet extrafamilial homicide-suicides receive the most media attention, despite their rarity. Related phenomena include mass murder, victim-precipitated suicide (“suicide by cop”), politically motivated homicide-suicide, and suicide in violent offenders. We review several conceptual models of the etiology of homicide-suicide, namely developmental, dynamic, biological, and cognitive models, and draw implications from the current state of knowledge about homicide-suicide.