Preventing Intimate Partner Homicide: The Long Road Ahead

Abstract

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) consists primarily of men killing women in the context of intimate partner violence. Researchers have described and identified risk factors associated with IPH; additional comprehensive data collection is needed to better understand IPH risk and to develop risk-informed prevention. Due to structural racism, available interventions within the criminal legal and social service systems may be eschewed by those—such as Black women—who are at the highest risk. Anti-racist research, practice, and policy are key to reducing IPH. Gender and racial equity, combined with fostering relational health leads, ultimately, down the long road to IPH prevention.

Perceptions, Help-Seeking, and High-Risk Domestic Violence in Black Communities

“…External issues, such as negative police encounters, systemic discrimination, and a lack of cultural responsiveness further compound with the internal challenges (T. B. Bent-Goodley, 2013; Messing et al, 2022; N. M. St. Vil et al, 2017).…”

“…Additional studies have found that survivors in the Black community often first reach out to informal supports, such as family, friends, and faith-based organizations, before or even if they seek help from formal systems such as law enforcement and domestic violence service providers (T. Bent-Goodley et al, 2012; Harper, 2022; Messing et al, 2022; Waller et al, 2022). As a result, survivors exhaust a number of resources to identify how and when to obtain support (Evans & Feder, 2016; Thomas et al, 2015; Zosky, 2011).…”

“…It involves a survivor’s process of decision-making to determine the need for help and how to best seek support (Harper, 2022; Waller et al, 2022, 2023). Help-seeking strategies of survivors of domestic violence in the Black community are shaped by their perceptions of domestic violence, the systems they interact with, and how they perceive their resources (Messing et al, 2022; Waller et al, 2022). However, adaptations in help-seeking can result in high-risk domestic violence, conceptualizing increased risk for serious injury or death (Barrett et al, 2020; Messing et al, 2022; Richards et al, 2020).…”

“…Help-seeking strategies of survivors of domestic violence in the Black community are shaped by their perceptions of domestic violence, the systems they interact with, and how they perceive their resources (Messing et al, 2022; Waller et al, 2022). However, adaptations in help-seeking can result in high-risk domestic violence, conceptualizing increased risk for serious injury or death (Barrett et al, 2020; Messing et al, 2022; Richards et al, 2020). This paper shares findings from a study conducted with diverse Black communities to understand, in part, their perceptions of domestic violence, help-seeking strategies, and how this connects to ideas of risk for serious injury or death.…”

The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Third Edition

“…In the FBI data, the spousal category includes common-law marriages, and the category of boyfriend or girlfriend excludes homosexual relationships. There are a variety of limitations to these data(Langford, Isaac, and Kabat, 1998;Messing et al, 2022).…”