NCJ Number
223422
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice: An International Journal Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 209-216
Date Published
July 2008
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The study analyzes the scope and nature of spousal homicides in Ghana, West Africa.
Abstract
The findings show that husbands were five times more likely to kill a spouse as were wives and that sexual jealousy and suspicions of infidelity were the most common precipitating factor in uxoricides. Mariticides were fueled by anger towards a husband who planned to take an additional wife, or by an instrumental need to replace a husband with a new lover. Analysis of data further revealed a predominance of poor and working class victims and assailants. The crime often occurred in the common dwelling place of the couple or a jointly-owned farm, or in cases involving separation, in the wife's natal home or farm. A plethora of methods were used to perpetrate the murders, including shooting with a gun, hacking with a cutlass or machete, hitting with a blunt object, and beating with personal weapons. This study adds to the scant extant literature on lethal marital violence in non-Western societies through the analysis of 72 spousal killings that were reported in a Ghanaian daily newspaper during 1990 through 2005. The study reports on: extent of spousal homicides; public reaction to spousal homicides; sociodemographic characteristics of victims and assailants; spatial and temporal aspects; co-offender patterns; method of killing; motivations, contexts, and circumstances surrounding the crime; spontaneous action or evidence of prior planning; latent or predisposed victims; post-homicidal suicide; and dispositional outcomes. Table, notes, references