NCJ Number
219986
Journal
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 370-383
Date Published
October 2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This review of the literature on intimate partner homicide (IPH) describes the factors, magnitude, and consequences linked to IPH, with attention to U.S. studies; discusses the public health implications of preventing IPH; identifies the limitations of the IPH literature; and offers recommendations for practice, policy, and research related to IPH.
Abstract
There is still a need to develop prevention programs that target those at highest risk for IPV-related homicide. More interventions should focus on removing deadly weapons from the home and from the possession of domestic-violence perpetrators. Physicians should inquire of their patients about IPH risk factors as well as the presence of firearms in the home. Data from the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice indicate that although IPH has declined over the past 25 years, the pattern of more women than men being killed by intimate partners has persisted. This increased risk of homicide for women in the home by an intimate partner has been linked with domestic violence, the presence of firearms in the home, and illicit drug use (Bailey et al., 1997). In their study of IPH, Paulozzi et al. (2001) estimated that 50 percent of IPH victims were killed by their legal spouses. Of the women killed by an intimate partner, 81 percent had been physically abused by the perpetrator the year prior to the homicide; 23 percent were beaten while pregnant; and 72 percent had reported victimization by harassment and stalking (Sharps et al., 2001). Researchers have noted that the FBI's Supplemental Homicide Reports have many limitations, such as "underreporting, errors in the assignment of relationships between offenders and victims, failure to identify a relationship in a significant portion of cases, and other missing information" (Paulozzi et al., 2001). 80 references