Rethinking Older Adult Murder Victims: Looking Back at 25 Years of <i>Homicide Studies</i> to Inform Future Research Needs

Addington, Lynn A.

doi:10.1177/10887679211046905

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Data that provides information about the interaction between the deceased older adult and the offender is also crucial, but is not usually explained beyond the relationship [49,50]. While understanding if there was a history of interpersonal violence is well recognised in intimate partner violence research [51], it is not frequently available in older adult homicide research.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The incident circumstances also require a greater than basic description of weapon, location and motive [43,50], for example the use of alcohol and other drugs proximal to the event.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to specify the factors unique to older adults as well as those shared with other age and sex cohorts in the population. In their evaluation of the state of older adult homicide research, Addington [50] identified the need to expand on the descriptive research,…”

Section: Comparison With Younger Adult Homicidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A population-based cross-sectional study examining homicides among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia: A study protocol

Kennedy,

Bugeja,

Olivier

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Background There is a need for both descriptive and analytical evidence on the factors associated with older adult homicide. The current landscape is insufficient because most published research is confined to the United States, and contains insufficient data about the homicide context. This study protocol describes the proposed method for examining the characteristics and factors associated with older adult homicide in the Australian state of Victoria, using data generated for the criminal and coronial investigation into these deaths stored in the Victorian Homicide Register (VHR). Outcomes will support practitioners, policy makers and other key stakeholders to strengthen prevention strategies to reduce the risk of future homicides among older Victorians. Methods This study will comprise a single-jurisdiction population-based cross-sectional design to analyse consecutive cases of homicide among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia for the period 2001 to 2015. All homicides of adults aged 18 years and older, and where the Coroner’s investigation is completed at data extraction will be included. Variables will be selected in accordance with elements of the social-ecological model (i.e., individual, interpersonal, incident, and community). This will include: socio-demographic characteristics; presence of mental or physical illness; deceased-offender relationship; nature of any abuse between the deceased and offender; incident location and weapon used; the presence of alcohol or drugs; and criminal justice outcomes. Homicide rates per 100,000 population will be calculated for older adults (aged 65 years and older) and younger adults (aged 18–64 years), and compared as rate ratios using Poisson regression. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation will be generated for factors associated with homicide for older compared to younger adults. Homicide typologies based on deceased-offender relationship and motive will be explored within group and family homicides will be compared between older and younger adults.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The incident circumstances also require a greater than basic description of weapon, location and motive [43,50], for example the use of alcohol and other drugs proximal to the event.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A population-based cross-sectional study examining homicides among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia: A study protocol

Kennedy,

Bugeja,

Olivier

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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“…It is expected that the global proportion of older adults aged 65 years and older will double from 2019 to 2050 [ 9 ]. This growth may well see older adult homicide become an increasing problem [ 10 ], and a failure to recognise older adults amongst the broader pool of homicide victims impacts the ability to provide adequate prevention strategies that might include policy and the allocation of human service resources [ 6 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Addington [ 10 ] recently identified the need for substantive descriptive research, in particular detailing offender characteristics, as well as in-depth analysis, that can support risk and protective factor identification for older adult homicide. There is also need for more detailed information about the fatal incident circumstances [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology of homicide among older adults: retrospective analysis using data from the Victorian Homicide Register

et al. 2023

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Older adult homicide is unique and under-researched, requiring immediate attention due to the rapidly ageing population. The current study aims to contribute to the description of homicide at the individual, interpersonal, incident and community levels. This research comprised a whole of state jurisdiction population-based retrospective analysis of homicide deaths of older adults aged 65 years and older reported to the Coroner between 2001 and 2015. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted to compare older adult homicides by sex and the deceased-offender relationship. There were 59 homicide incidents involving 23 female and 36 male deceased (median age=72 years) and 16 female and 41 male offenders (median age=41 years). Individual factors included the following: Deceased frequently had a recorded physical illness (66%), and over one-third were born overseas (37%) or had recent contact with general practitioners and human services (36%). Offenders frequently had a history of illicit drug or alcohol use (63%), diagnosed mental illness (63%) and historical exposure to violence (61%). Interpersonal factors included the following: The deceased-offender relationship tended to be intimate or familial (63%). Incidents factors included the following: incident predominantly occurred in the victim’s home (73%), involving the use of a sharp object (36%), bodily force (31%) or blunt force (20%). The older adult homicide is characterised by poor health in the victim, mental illness, substance abuse or a history of conflict in the either the victim or the offender, familial deceased-offender relationship and the home as the incident location. The results identify future prevention opportunities in clinical and human services settings.

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Older Adult Family Homicide in Victoria, Australia 2001–2015: A Description of Family and Family Violence Homicide Victimisation

Kennedy,

Ibrahim,

Koppel

et al. 2024

J Fam Viol

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Purpose This study examined factors present among older adult family homicide victims and their offenders compared to younger adult family homicide using the social-ecological model. Method The study used a population-based single-jurisdiction cross-sectional design of consecutive homicide cases of adults (aged 18 years and older) reported to the coroner in Victoria, Australia for the period 2001–2015. Included were homicides involving an intimate or familial relationship. The data source was the Victorian Homicide Register, maintained by the Coroners Court of Victoria. Descriptive and multivariate analysis was performed to compare the presence of factors between younger and older adult family homicides. Results During the study period 37/283 (13.1%) family homicides occurred among older adult victims (aged 65 years and older) and 246/283 (86.9%) occurred among younger adults (aged 18–64 years). The deceased older adult was often male (57%), with a documented physical illness (54%). Offenders against the older adult were frequently male (68%), non-intimately related (73%), with diagnosed mental illness, a history of substance use and/or historical exposure to violence (all 57%). There were 15 older adult family violence (FV) homicide victims, eight that were previously victims of the homicide offender, primarily enduring emotional, physical and psychological violence as well as the perpetrator assaulting another family member. Seven older adults had perpetrated FV against their offender. Conclusions The history of violence perpetration in the deceased and mental health factors in their offender, as well as the greater proportion of parent-child and other familial relationships offer interesting focal points for future prevention research.

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Rethinking Older Adult Murder Victims: Looking Back at 25 Years of Homicide Studies to Inform Future Research Needs

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

A population-based cross-sectional study examining homicides among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia: A study protocol

A population-based cross-sectional study examining homicides among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia: A study protocol

The epidemiology of homicide among older adults: retrospective analysis using data from the Victorian Homicide Register

Older Adult Family Homicide in Victoria, Australia 2001–2015: A Description of Family and Family Violence Homicide Victimisation

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