Heterosexual Intimate Partner Homicide: Review of Ten Years of Clinical Experience

Abstract

Most of the literature on intimate partner homicide addresses violence between the two partners, spousal abuse, and family violence. There is less focus on the relationship of mental illness, intellectual functioning, and drug and alcohol abuse to these homicides.We investigated this type of homicide in a collection of forensic cases seen by the first author over a period of 10 years. Twenty-eight patients who underwent forensic psychiatric evaluation for heterosexual intimate partner homicide from August 1993 to June 2003 were studied using a retrospective case review methodology.We found that firearms were used as the method of killing more often by females than by males.We also compared method of killing with substance abuse and intoxication at the time of the homicide. Educational status indicates that this group of accused perpetrators is functioning at higher intellectual levels compared with a previously studied sample of filicides. We also found significant presence of serious mental illness in our sample of accused perpetrators of heterosexual intimate partner homicide.

Anterior hypothalamic vasopressin regulates pair-bonding and drug-induced aggression in a monogamous rodent

“…Drug use can override neurobiological programs to activate maladaptive forms of agonistic behavior, engaging inappropriate types of physical aggression (13), such as domestic violence (14) and intimate partner homicide (15). As a result, chronic drug abuse can cause permanent neural reorganization (16,17), impairing the adaptive social brain (18), leading to the display of maladaptive social behavior (19).…”

Femmes auteures d’un homicide conjugal

“…Selon plusieurs études, les troubles mentaux sévères (qui tendent à abolir le discernement) sont peu fréquents chez l'auteur d'homicide conjugal (Delbreil, Voyer et Senon, 2011 ;Farooque, Stout et Ernst, 2005) et ce dernier est d'ailleurs « assez peu pathologique dans son fonctionnement social et relationnel en temps ordinaire, nonobstant sa jalousie amoureuse » (Korn, 2003, p. 119 reconnues criminellement responsables, 21,3 % des hommes et 20 % des femmes ont reçu un diagnostic de trouble mental et 11 % des hommes et 6,7 % des femmes présentaient un trouble de la personnalité (majoritairement trouble de la personnalité limite et trouble de la personnalité antisociale). Des études américaines en arrivent à un résultat similaire, notamment Farooque et al (2005), qui indiquent que les auteurs d'un homicide conjugal sont rarement dans un état psychotique et le sont significativement moins que les individus ayant commis un parricide (l'homicide de leur père ou de leur mère).…”

“…Des études américaines en arrivent à un résultat similaire, notamment Farooque et al (2005), qui indiquent que les auteurs d'un homicide conjugal sont rarement dans un état psychotique et le sont significativement moins que les individus ayant commis un parricide (l'homicide de leur père ou de leur mère).…”

Sex, Drugs, and Violence: Neuromodulation of Attachment and Conflict in Voles

“…Drug use can override neurobiological programs to activate maladaptive forms of agonistic behavior, triggering inappropriate types of physical aggression (Swartz et al 1998) such as domestic violence (Moore et al 2008) and intimate partner homicide (Farooque et al 2005). As a result, chronic drug abuse can cause permanent neural reorganization (Nestler and Aghajanian 1997;White and Kalivas 1998), impairing the adaptive social brain (Panksepp et al 2002) and leading to the display of maladaptive social behavior (Wise 2002).…”