NCJ Number
145795
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 2-16
Date Published
1993
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the frequencies of spousal homicide while partners are cohabiting and separated as recorded in the police statistics of Canada (1974-90), New South Wales, Australia (1968-86), and Chicago (1965-90).
Abstract
In Canada, there were 1,748 spousal homicides between 1974 and 1990. New South Wales had 398 spousal homicides between 1968 and 1986, and Chicago reported 1,758 spousal homicides between 1965 and 1990. There were no conspicuous trends in the numbers of spousal homicide victims per year in any of the three homicide archives. Despite whether victimization rates for estranged spouses are computed per million separated men or per million separated women, wives in all three countries incurred substantially elevated risk of being killed by their husbands when separated compared to when cohabiting. For husbands, the risk when separated was similar to that when cohabiting in New South Wales and in Chicago and was elevated by a much smaller factor in Canada than was the corresponding risk to wives. The data thus show that the period immediately after estrangement is particularly risky for women, although spousal homicide may occur months and even years after separation and divorce. This article also discusses the psychology of the coercive control of wives and the implications of the study findings for wives who decide unilaterally to separate from their husbands. 2 tables, 1 figures, and 58 references