Sociostructural Considerations of Domestic Femicide

• NCJ Number: 191899
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2001 Pages: 421-435
• Author(s): Sheryl J. Grana
• Date Published: December 2001
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Domestic femicide data collected from 32 State domestic violence coalitions was regressed on variables associated with 3 theoretical explanations: economic stress and inequality variables, criminal justice variables, and community variables.

Abstract

Analysis of variables was performed by using multiple regression, and the dependent variable in all regression equations was domestic femicide (the murder of women by a domestic partner). For States that provided 1 year of data, that figure was used in the analysis. For States that provided multiple years of data, a mean score was computed and used in the analysis. Economic stress/inequality was used as one independent variable, because a number of researchers have argued that structural poverty is one of the most important determinates of homicide. Regarding criminal justice independent variables, the research hypothesized that the more police officers in a State, the lower will be the domestic femicide rate, and that the presence of a State standard of intervention therapy will lower the femicide rate. The relationship between violent crime rates and domestic femicide rates was also included in the analysis, as it was hypothesized that the higher the overall violent crime rate, the higher the domestic femicide rate. Regarding community variables, the study hypothesized that three variables suggest something about a population: many teen mothers, a high infant mortality rate, and many people on public aid. These variables suggest an environment of struggle, change, and instability. The study found that State size had the largest impact on the number of domestic femicides, perhaps because of the relationship between State size and other variables, such as poverty and public services. Not related to domestic femicide were variables such as the number of officers on the street, the number of violent crimes, or household income. Suggestions are offered for additional research. 5 tables and 23 references