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

Abstract

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.

Taxonomía de los Homicidios de Mujeres en las Relaciones de Pareja

“…Para ello se han comparado homicidas de pareja con homicidas en general, homicidas de pareja y agresores de pareja no letales, homicidios de pareja con una única víctima o con víctimas colaterales (familicidio) u homicidios con o sin suicidio posterior del agresor. También han proliferado los estudios dirigidos a establecer tipologías de homicidas de pareja (Banks, Crandall, Sklar y Bauer, 2008;Cunha y Goncalves, 2016;Dixon, Hamilton-Giachritsis y Browne, 2008;Dobash et al, 2007;Juodis, Starzomski, Porter y Woodworth, 2014;Liem y Koenraadt, 2008;Loinaz et al, 2018;Tosini, 2017).…”

“…En este sentido, podría interpretarse como un subtipo de HCP, ya que el principal objetivo de la violencia es el cónyuge y no lo hijos. Los hijos son asesinados porque el homicida ha percibido, con base de realidad o no, que estos han conspirado contra él o se han aliado con la pareja, porque simbólicamente representan todo lo negativo de la pareja, siendo percibidos como una extensión de ésta, o para aliviarles del sufrimiento causado por el asesinato de su progenitor/a (Tosini, 2017).…”

“…Los niños son vistos como factores que contribuyen al estrés del homicida o se consideran en alianza con la madre. Otros casos fueron etiquetados de «familicidio indirectamente punitivo» (también denominado «asesinato por poder»), en el cual los niños victimizados son asesinados como una extensión de la pareja (Tosini, 2017).…”

“…Tradicionalmente la investigación sobre el familicidio ha comparado este fenómeno con el HCP y el filicidio (o neonaticidio, donde aumenta el porcentaje de mujeres homicidas). Aunque la literatura en relación a esta fenomenología es escasa y no está exenta de limitaciones metodológicas (principalmente relacionadas con el pequeño tamaño de las muestras y el uso de información periodística como fuente de recogida de datos), una revisión de los principales estudios (Johnson y Sachmann, 2014;Liem et al, 2013;Tosini, 2017) también apoya la presencia de características diferenciales con los HCP.…”

Social immunology: A theory of the immune processes of social systems

“…Certainly, violence might also transmit and stimulate communicative messages. However, the occurrence of violence clearly gives rise to the risk of disrupting communicative processes that results from the probable physical destruction of the human environment(Tosini, 2011; 2017b).…”