Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Femicide–Suicide in Italy: An Ecological Approach

Abstract

The present study investigated the intimate partner femicide (IPF) and intimate partner femicide–suicide (IPFS) perpetrators’ individual, relational, and contextual characteristics by analyzing, within the ecological approach, femicide cases that occurred in Italy from 2010 to 2019. On the topic, to date, scant studies examined possible differences between IPF and IPFS risk factors, and no studies have analyzed these factors by adopting an ecological systems model perspective. To this aim, archival research was carried out. Of a total of 1.207 femicides, 409 were IPF, and 227 were IPFS. Perpetrators’ age, level of employment, law enforcement membership, mental and/or physical illnesses, use of psychoactive substances, previous crimes, previous violent relationships, presence of children, previous violence in the couple, inability to accept the end of the relationship, quarrels and conflict, jealousy and the psychophysical illnesses of both authors and victims, as well as the use of firearms and victim’s request for help were analyzed. The results underlined the existence of different risk factors contributing to the IPF perpetrators’ decision to commit suicide such as perpetrators’ age, law enforcement membership, and firearm availability. These findings stress the need for specific risk assessment and management strategies for IPFS perpetrators.

Intimate Partner Femicide–Suicide in Eswatini: Offenders, Victims, Incident Characteristics and Sociocultural Contexts

“…The use of data from electronic news sources to study homicide, suicide or homicide–suicide is not unprecedented (Adinkrah 2014; Cavlak et al 2023; Richards et al 2014; Solinas-Saunders 2022; Sorrentino et al 2022). Given the paucity of official law enforcement data on the phenomenon in many societies, it is recognized as an acceptable methodological alternative.…”

“…For South Africa, Matthews et al (2008) reported an intimate partner femicide–suicide rate of 1.7 per 100,000. Despite their infrequency, intimate partner femicide–suicide constitutes a significant percentage of all homicide–suicides (Adinkrah 2014; Cavlak et al 2023; Sorrentino et al 2022). Indeed, intimate partner femicide–suicide is reportedly the most common form of homicide–suicide, accounting for approximately one in four (Cavlak et al 2023; Richards et al 2014).…”

“…Research further finds that in countries with liberal gun laws, the vast majority of intimate partner femicide–suicides are committed with guns (Adler 1999; Banks et al 2008; Dayan 2021; Koziol-McLain et al 2006; Lund and Smorodinsky 2001; Morton et al 1998; Salari and Sillito 2016). In an Italian study, Sorrentino et al (2022) found the use of a firearm “a significant predictive factor for intimate partner femicide–suicide”, reporting that “55.5% of perpetrators used a firearm as a weapon for intimate partner femicide–suicides”. Cavlak et al (2023) also found firearm ownership as an important risk factor for intimate partner femicide–suicide in Türkiye, accounting for 84.1% of the cases studied.…”

“…Gerontogamous marital relationships generally tend to be less stable than marriages where the age differential between couples is small (Knoss 2017). Relatedly, offenders in intimate partner femicide–suicides tend to be older than the femicide victim (Adinkrah 2014; Cavlak et al 2023; Sorrentino et al 2022). Based on their analysis of homicide data from the United States, Breitman, Shackelford, and Block (2004) concluded that the risk of intimate partner homicide was substantially elevated for couples with a large age differential – or where the man was at least 16 years older than the woman, or the woman was at least 10 years older than the man.…”

“…The past decade especially has witnessed burgeoning scholarship on intimate partner femicide–suicides (see Cavlak et al 2023; Dayan 2021; McPhedran et al 2018; Richards, Gillespie, and Givens 2014; Solinas-Saunders 2022; Sorrentino, Cinquegrana, and Guida 2022; Zimmerman, Fridel, and McArdle 2023). The vast majority of these studies have focused on countries in the global north, including Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States (Banks et al 2008; Cavlak et al 2023; Dawson 2005; Dawson and Carrigan 2021; Easteal 1994; Koziol-McLain et al 2006; Krulewitch 2009; Lund and Smorodinsky 2001; Morton et al 1998; Solinas-Saunders 2022; Sorrentino et al 2022; Zimmerman et al 2023). Concomitantly, intimate partner femicide–suicide events elsewhere have received comparatively little attention in the professional literature, with the effect that a great deal is currently unknown about the issue, particularly the impact of sociocultural factors on the scope and patterns of the crime.…”