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

Sorrentino, Anna; Cinquegrana, Vincenza; Guida, Chiara

doi:10.3390/ijerph191610431

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…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.…”

Section: Research Methods and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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).…”

Section: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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.…”

Section: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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.…”

Section: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Adinkrah¹

2023

Int. ann. criminol.

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The current article reports the results of a systematic study of 42 intimate partner femicide–suicides with 91 fatal casualties in Eswatini, Africa, from 2009 to 2022. The study used a media-surveillance methodology to identify the 42 cases from a major local online newspaper. Information on all identified cases was subjected to careful criminological analyses. Six of the cases involved seven collateral, or corollary, homicide victims. Results indicate that assailants and victims were generally of lower socio-economic background; assailants tended to be older than their victims; stabbing with a knife, shooting with a gun and slashing with a machete were the dominant homicide methods; ingestion of weevil tablets and other poisons, hanging and shooting with a firearm were the predominant suicide means. The results further show that femicide incidents overwhelmingly involved overkill, with the assailant using inordinately high levels of aggression against the victim. Male sexual jealousy, rage over the female partner’s abrogation of the relationship, and interpersonal disputes of variable origin were the major precipitants. It is recommended that deterrent sentences should be used to teach wife assaulters and would-be assaulters that society does not tolerate assaultive behaviour within intimate relationships. More resources should be provided for women who are victims of domestic violence. This should include legal aid, financial resources and refuges for women in danger and their children. Measures should be taken to control the proliferation of firearms in society.

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