Classifying Partner Femicide

Abstract

The heterogeneity of domestic violent men has long been established. However, research has failed to examine this phenomenon among men committing the most severe form of domestic violence. This study aims to use a multidimensional approach to empirically construct a classification system of men who are incarcerated for the murder of their female partner based on the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) typology. Ninety men who had been convicted and imprisoned for the murder of their female partner or spouse in England were identified from two prison samples. A content dictionary defining offense and offender characteristics associated with two dimensions of psychopathology and criminality was developed. These variables were extracted from institutional records via content analysis and analyzed for thematic structure using multidimensional scaling procedures. The resultant framework classified 80% ( n = 72) of the sample into three subgroups of men characterized by (a) low criminality/low psychopathology (15%), (b) moderate-high criminality/ high psychopathology (36%), and (c) high criminality/low-moderate psychopathology (49%). The latter two groups are akin to Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart's (1994) generally violent/antisocial and dysphoric/borderline offender, respectively. The implications for intervention, developing consensus in research methodology across the field, and examining typologies of domestic violent men prospectively are discussed.

Risk Factors of Female Intimate Partner and Non-Intimate Partner Homicides

“…In the UK, Dixon et al (2008), following the typological proposal of Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994), concluded that 15% of the IPH offenders met the low criminality/low psychopathology profile, 36% the moderate-high criminality/high psychopathology profile, and 49% the high criminality/low-moderate psychopathology profile. Elisha et al, (2010) also identified three types of IPH through the qualitative assessment of 15 inmates in Israel (10 were convicted of murder, 3 of manslaughter, and 2 of attempted murder).…”

“…In this respect, it would be interesting to analyze other variables in greater detail, for instance, the psychological profile by means of specific psychometric tools (e.g., for personality disorders) (Loinaz, Ortiz-Tallo, & Ferragut, 2012). These assessment limitations prevented us from analyzing typological proposals, as others have done (Dixon et al, 2008;Elisha et al, 2010). Recent studies (Debowska, Boduszek, Dhingra, Kola, & Meller-Prunska, 2015;Debowska, Boduszek, & Willmott, in press) also emphasize the weight of childhood exposure to violence in the development of cognitive distortions, and dating sexual violence-supportive attitudes among different types of offenders, including homicide offenders.…”

“…Some research indicates that this crime is more common among antisocial or pathological PVM (basically, those with borderline features) (Dixon, Hamilton-Giachritsis, & Browne, 2008) and that socially disadvantaged groups are overrepresented among male IPH offenders; for instance, "permanently unemployed male alcoholics with a long history of violence" (Kivivuori & Lehti, 2012, p. 73). Others, however, describe socially bonded and non-pathological offenders among these IPH (Dobash & Dobash, 2011;Dobash et al, 2009;Dobash et al, 2004;Dobash, Dobash, Cavanagh, & MedinaAriza, 2007;Dutton & Kerry, 1999;Thomas et al, 2011).…”

Medico legal and epidemiological aspects of femicide in a judicial district of north eastern Italy

“…42 Our observation that mental illness plays a dominant role (37.9% of perpetrators suffered from a mental disorder) is also borne out in the literature: other studies have shown a high incidence of mental disorders in males who killed their female partner, and these mainly involve depression, personality disorders, delusional disorders, and antisocial or controlling/repressive behaviour. 26,27 All the 11 psychiatric subjects we studied had obsessivecompulsive or depressive symptoms at the time they committed murder and some of them were not following a program of supervised treatment, while 1 of them, a high school student, killed his teacher after being reprimanded.…”

An Examination of Psychopathology Among Men who have Suspended the Use of Violence in Their Intimate Relationships

“…A number of authors have identified that IPV offenders possess a range of distinct personality traits (e.g., Dixon, Hamilton-Giachritsis, & Browne, 2008;Ehrensaft et al, 2006;Fowler & Westen, 2011;Gondolf, 1999). Using Q-factor analysis Fowler and Westen (2011) 6 PSYCHOPATHOLOGIES OF MALE IPV DESISTERS identify three personality constellations among partner-violent men: psychopathic; hostile/controlling; and, borderline/dependent.…”