Intimate partner homicide: A meta-analysis of risk factors
Section snippets
Research on intimate partner homicide
Despite the existence of statistical sources, knowledge and information regarding homicides is still quite limited (Liem, 2013). IPH occurs essentially at home and in the private sphere (Lacanaria & David, 2018; Marcuello-Servós, Corradi, Weil, & Boira, 2016), and consequently, there are significant gaps in the data across the world, thus hampering preventive efforts (WHO, 2014). In general, 20.5% of the globally reported homicides had no information on the relationship between victims and
IPH risk factors
Several authors have tried to identify the risk factors for IPH related to the victim, to the perpetrator or even to previous couple dynamics. The majority of studies on this topic focused on femicide, which leads to a lack of knowledge of the dynamics involved in the IPH perpetrated by women against their partners. According to the literature, IPH occurs mostly because of a history of previous and reiterated abuse and violence (Campbell et al., 2003; Campbell, Glass, Sharps, Laughon, & Bloom,
Are intimate partner homicide offenders different from other offenders?
Despite the existing knowledge about IPH, there are still some discrepancies regarding the characterization of IPH offenders as well as the prediction of this crime (Loinaz, Marzabal, & Andrés-Pueyo, 2018). Social, psychological and biological factors have been noted as explanations for when and why violence is used in intimate relationships and what can distinguish violent events that become lethal from violent ones that do not end in lethality (Dobash, Dobash, Cavanagh, & Medina-Ariza, 2007).
Objectives and relevance
The literature on IPH predictors has undergone a thorough analysis in some areas, but others remain without any analysis (Aldridge & Browne, 2003; Liem, 2013; Spencer, 2018). In this meta-analysis, our main objective is to identify the scientific studies that characterize the IPH perpetrator and victim, as well as the context in which homicide occurs in intimate relationships, and to systematize the knowledge and the main results. According to Norman and Bradshaw (2013), it is also essential to
Meta-analysis
The advancement of scientific knowledge is based on the systematic construction of a study based on the accumulation of findings from previous studies that take our understanding to ever-greater heights (Card, 2012). A systematic review is a review of scientific literature outlined through the use of systematic methods to reduce possible biases, aiming to identify, select and critically analyse relevant studies on a formulated question (Sousa & Ribeiro, 2009). In the performed meta-analysis,
Samples, methods, and instruments
Half of the selected studies were conducted in the USA (n = 14, 50%), followed by Europe (n = 12, 43%), Mexico (n = 1, 3.5%) and South Africa (n = 1, 3.5%). Regarding the year of publication, only one article (3.5%) predates the 2000s; 17 (60.7%) of the articles were published between 2000 and 2009, and 10 (35.8%) were published between 2010 and 2018.
All studies included in this meta-analysis were quantitative, retrospective and case-control investigations. The data were collected mostly using
Discussion
The objective of this meta-analysis was to identify the factors that best predict IPH through a comparison of IPH victims and offenders, IPV offenders, and those who have committed other types of homicides on dyad characterization and dynamical, situational and criminal variables. Globally, the results showed that the factors with the greatest predictive power of a lethal outcome are those related to a previous history of abusive relational dynamics. Therefore, the risk assessment in an abusive
Conclusion and practical implications
These results allow us to identify some of the essential intervention areas in IPH prevention, with the dynamic predictors addressed playing an important role. On the one hand, the empowerment of victims through interventions in structural factors (e.g., unemployment, educational level) seems essential, as well as in individual vulnerability factors concerning the offenders (e.g., alcoholism, rehabilitation programmes). On the other hand, it is essential to have inclusion policies in
Acknowledgement
Funding: This study was partially conducted at the Psychology Research Center (PSI/01662), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through the national funds (PIDDAC).
References* (81)
- et al.
Why do people kill? A critical review of the literature on factors associated with homicide
Aggression and Violent Behavior
(2016) - et al.
Trends in rates and characteristics of intimate partner homicides between 1990 and 2013
Journal of Criminal Justice
(2017) - et al.
Singularités cliniques et criminologiques de l’uxuricide: elemalets de comprehension du meurtre conjugal
L’Encéphale
(2013) - et al.
La violencia en la escena del crimale en homicidios en la pareja
Anuario de Psicología Jurídica
(2016) - et al.
Modus operandi and personality disorder in incarcerated spousal killers
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
(1999) - et al.
A general strain theory of intimate partner homicide
Aggression and Violent Behavior
(2013) - et al.
Non-fatal strangulation is an important risk factor for homicide of female
Journal of Emergency Medicine
(2008) - et al.
“I killed her, but i never laid a finger on her” - A phenomaleological difference between wife-battering
Aggression and Violent Behavior
(2012) - et al.
Abuse during pregnancy and femicide: Urgent implications for female’s health
Obstetrics & Gynecology
(2002) - et al.
Commalet what is the scale of intimate partner homicide?
Perfil sociodemográfico del femicidio em España y su relación con las denuncias por violencia de pareja
Gaceta Sanitaria
A comparative study of violence risk assessmalet tools: A systematic review and metaregression analysis of 68 studies involving 25,980 participants
Clinical Psychology Review
Estudo Avaliativo das Decisões Judiciais em Matéria de Violência Doméstica
Perpetrators of spousal homicide: A review
Trauma, Violence & Abuse
Avaliação de Risco de Femicídio: Poder e Controlo nas Dinâmicas das Relações Íntimas. (Dissertação de Doutoramento em Psicologia, ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa)
The psychology of criminal conduct
Estudo de um homicida nas relações de intimidade. (Tese de Mestrado, Instituto Superior da Maia)
A comparison of intimate partner homicide to intimate partner homicide-suicide
Violence Against Female
Characteristics of spousal homicide perpetrators: A study of all cases of spousal homicide in Sweden 1990-1999
Criminal Behaviour and Maletal Health
Does neighborhood environment differentiate intimate partner femicide from other femicides?
Violence Against Female
Offender rehabilitation: From research to practice. Ministry of the Soliciter General of Canada
Introduction to meta-analysis
Homicide followed by suicide: A Quebec case series, 1988–1990
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Intimate partner homicide: Review and implications of research and policy
Trauma, Violence & Abuse
The Danger Assessment: Validation of a lethality risk assessment intrument for intimate partner femicide
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study
American Journal of Public Health
Applied meta-analysis for social science research
Homicídios em violência doméstica, Análise Retrospetiva de Homicídios ocorridos em Relações de Intimidade
Viver sobrevivendo: Emoções e dinâmicas socioculturais nos processos de manutenção das relações violenta
Nature Genetics
Perpetradores de violência em relações de intimidade: Da caracterização à intervenção
Predictors of intimate partner homicide in a sample of Portuguese male domestic offenders
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Evolucionary social psychology and family homicide
Science
Differences in the characteristics of intimate femicides: The role of relationship state and relationship status
Homicide Studies
Can situational and structural factors differentiate between intimate partner and “other” homicide?
Journal of Family and Violence
Violência Interpessoal - Abordagem
Lethal and nonlethal violence against an intimate female partner
Violence Against Female
Not an ordinary killer; just an ordinary guy: When male murder an intimate female partner
Violence Against Female
Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical
Bmj
Estimating the costs of gender-based violence in the European Union: Report
Cited by (71)
‘Till death do us part’: An integrated multi-theoretical approach to identify predictors of intimate partner homicide
2023, Journal of Criminal JusticeImaging and Non-imaging Findings of Intimate Partner Violence on the Trauma Service: A Retrospective Analysis of Two Level 1 Trauma Centers
2023, Academic RadiologyCitation Excerpt :Known risk factors for IPV, such as psychiatric and substance use history were common in this cohort (13,26). Interestingly, the majority of the patients were White and English speaking, in contrast to prior studies showing an association between racial/ethnic minorities and IPV (13,27). This deviation may reflect the demographics of the communities served by our hospitals, inherent differences in patients on the trauma service compared to the general ED or outpatient population, and self-selection bias from patients who reported IPV.
Family homicide
2023, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Third Edition: Volume 1-3Intimate Partner Homicide: Comparison Between Homicide and Homicide-Suicide in Portugal
2024, Journal of Interpersonal ViolenceCoercive Control or Self-Defense? Examining Firearm use in Male- and Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Homicide
2024, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
- *
Represents the studies included in quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis).