Familicide and Family Law: A Study of Filicide–suicide Following Separation*

Johnson, Carolyn

doi:10.1111/j.1744-1617.2006.00099.x

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…From this perspective, familicides resemble intimate partner homicides, as the primary object of aggression constitutes the spouse rather than the children. (see also, Dietz, 1986; Dobash & Dobash, 2015; Eriksson & Mazerolle, 2013; Fox & Levin, 2011; Gregory, 2013; Harper & Voigt, 2007; Holland et al, 2018; Johnson, 2006; Koziol-McLain et al, 2006; Liem & Koenraadt, 2008; Manning, 2014; Oliffe et al, 2014; Wilson et al, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Familicide in Italy: An Exploratory Study of Cases Involving Male Perpetrators (1992-2015)

Tosini

2017

J Interpers Violence

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This article adds to the literature on familicide by providing specific insights from the Italian experience. It presents results of an exploratory investigation into male-perpetrated familicides in Italy between 1992 and 2015. Familicide is defined as the killing of the spouse or intimate partner, and at least one child, at the hand of the other spouse/partner. Incidents of familicide were collated from newspaper reports. We identified 90 cases, resulting in 207 deaths. On average, perpetrators were middle aged ( M = 46.8; age ranging from 25 to 76), and most ( n = 66; 73%) committed, or attempted to commit, suicide. While significant contributory roles were played by health problems and financial worries, the origin of the primary emotional upset for the killers tended to be interpersonal conflicts involving their partners. For those cases with available information ( n = 56; 62%), six types of familicide were also identified on the basis of the murderer's homicidal motivations. Most frequent were three circumstances. 15 cases concerned the "doubly-protective familicide" (which corresponds to the "suicide-by-proxy"), characterized by the preservation of the family in the face of a presumed catastrophic event. Triggers included the killer's financial distress, health troubles, or anxiety associated with other personal problems. 13 cases referred to "doubly-punitive familicide," whose distinctive feature, in addition to punishing the partner because of her estrangement, her infidelity, or other disputes, is to directly involve the child(ren) in the punitive homicidal act. The children are viewed as contributory factors to the killer's stress, or are considered to be in league with the mother. 12 cases exemplified "indirectly-punitive familicide" (also termed "murder-by-proxy"), in which the victimized child(ren) are killed as an extension of the partner. Overall, this typology provides a more nuanced conceptualization of familicide occurrences than those examined in previous research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Familicide in Italy: An Exploratory Study of Cases Involving Male Perpetrators (1992-2015)

Tosini

2017

J Interpers Violence

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“…The ideas we posit refer only to familicide‐suicide following separation, and may not be transferable to other forms of the offense. They are founded on the results of two previously published Western Australian Studies (Johnson, , ). Therefore, the purpose of this article is to combine results from both studies to explore common myths about the offense, and to propose a new constellation of risk factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Familicide‐Suicide: From Myth To Hypothesis And Toward Understanding

Johnson¹,

Sachmann²

2014

Family Court Review

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Familicide‐suicide following separation is an underresearched and poorly understood offense. Findings from previous research are inconclusive about risk factors and perpetrator motivation. This article explores common myths about the offense in relation to some of the findings from two studies of familicide‐suicide following separation undertaken in Western Australia. A new conceptualization of the offense is proposed based on attachment theory, the neurobiology of trauma, and the possible subconscious motivation of perpetrators, which may be helpful in assessing risk of familicide‐suicide in family court cases. Keypoints There are warning signs to familicide‐suicide following separation. Warning signs are often not recognised or not adequately communicated to decision makers. Risk factors are dynamic and therefore not always able to be assessed in tests that measure static personality characteristics. Assessment needs to involve input from family members and collaboration with other agencies. Judicial decision making should be informed by comprehensive psychological profiles including childhood abuse history, adult attachment assessments, level of narcissism, degree of symbiosis in the relationship and history of domestic violence, including threats to kill and/or suicide.

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“…This was followed by the categories of altruism and spousal revenge (Alder and Polk 1996). Family violence, particularly in the context of marital separation or child custody disputes, is now well established as a risk factor for filicides and familicides (Johnson 2006;Kirkwood, McKenzie and Tyson 2013;Liem, Hengeveld and Koenraadt 2009). Similar to maternal filicide research, Alder and Polk (1996) demonstrated that filicides occurred in a range of situations that defied any 'universal' explanation for masculine behaviour that had been submitted in previous studies.…”

Section: Understanding Filicidementioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Analysis of Australian Filicide Perpetration Trends: Filicide in Victoria, 1860–1920

Nagy

Rychner

2021

Int J for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy

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The historical examination of filicide in Australia is limited and often focuses on case studies of maternal filicides. Longitudinal trends of Australian filicide offending have focused almost exclusively on the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Our study aims to fill a gap in Australian criminological knowledge about filicide. Utilising prison and Supreme Court records from 1860 and 1920, we plot the extent of filicide offending by men and women in Victoria to create a more comprehensive picture of filicide perpetration. This study also tests whether identified motives and risk factors for filicide today can be applied to historical data, to make these data accessible to criminologists studying filicide in the twenty-first century.

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Familicide and Family Law: A Study of Filicide–suicide Following Separation*

Cited by 28 publications

References 6 publications

Familicide in Italy: An Exploratory Study of Cases Involving Male Perpetrators (1992-2015)

Familicide in Italy: An Exploratory Study of Cases Involving Male Perpetrators (1992-2015)

Familicide‐Suicide: From Myth To Hypothesis And Toward Understanding

Longitudinal Analysis of Australian Filicide Perpetration Trends: Filicide in Victoria, 1860–1920

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