Assault and Homicide at Home: When Battered Women Kill (From Advances in Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 3, P 57-79, 1986, Michael J Saks, and Leonard Saxe, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 113928
• Author(s): A Browne
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined severely abusive relationships and the perspectives of the women involved for 205 abused women whose abuse had not culminated in the killing of the partner and for 42 women who killed the abusive partner.

Abstract

Few demographic differences were found between the two groups. Women in both groups tended to be better educated than their partners. A majority of women in both groups had witnessed or been victims of physical abuse in their families or origin, and over half in both groups reported at least one attempted sexual assault as a child. Compared to men in the nonhomicide group, men in the homicide group showed significantly greater use of street and prescription drugs, were more likely to become intoxicated every day, were more likely to abuse their children as well as their partners, and were more likely to have been arrested. Abuses ranged from slaps and punches to being choked and bitten. While the homicide group experienced slightly greater violence, the difference was not significant. Compared to the nonhomicide group, women in the homicide group experienced violence significantly more often, had experienced more death threats from the partner, and were more likely to have threatened to kill the partner. They also were more likely to have experienced sexual assault by the partner. For both groups, partners' contrition for the abuse declined over time, and abuse increased in severity, although this was more evident in the homicide group. Victim reactions to the abuse were similar to those reported for abuse related to captivity, such as that experienced by prisoners of war. 72 references.