. Strengthening Understanding of Femicide Washington DC April 2008 Rebecca Emerson Dobash Russell Dobash School of Law, University of Manchester, England.

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Strengthening Understanding of Femicide

Washington DC April 2008

Rebecca Emerson DobashRussell Dobash

School of Law, University of Manchester, England&

School of Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University

Murder in Britain Study(funded by ESRC, Economic & Social Research Council, UK)

Aims & ApproachesExamine & Compare Different Types of

Murder Risk Factors (individual, socio-cultural) Situational Contexts Circumstances (Relationships, issues) Lethal Intentions Life Course

Methods -3 datasets: Homicide Index Case Files Interviews

Murder in Britain Study – 3 sources of dataHomicide Index:

All homicides (1980-2000) England/Wales n=12,000 (27vars) Scotland n=2,000 (19vars)

Case Files: sample n=866 425 varsSample from all murderers currently serving life in prison:England/Wales (n=3,000) Scotland (n=500)

Depth Interviews: sample n=200 Men Women England 143 20 Scotland 37 0

Total 180 20 …. Overall Total=200

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE Offender’s Perspective (n=200, 180men & 20women)

Background: Age, employment, education, ethnicity, religion, marital status,

children, …

Childhood: Parents/carers, Family issues, Childhood discipline, problems, abuse Childhood offending & substance abuse

The Murder Event: Personal circumstances, Murder event, Immediately after event

Adult Life & Relationships: Offending, Alcohol-Drugs ,Intimate Rels, Children, Violence to

Partner

Attitudes & Perceptions: About victims & others (ethnic groups, elderly, women, gays, ...

Prison & Prison Programmes: Adjustment, problems, violence, programmes, ...

MURDER CASEFILES (n=866)documents from…

Police InvestigationTrial Judge Summary Forensic ReportGovs & Prison Officers (Assessment, Life Plan,

Conduct)Probation (Pre & post sentence, prison)Psychiatric/ Medical (Pre & post sentence,

prison)PsychologistParole ReviewOffending Behaviour ProgrammesOffender Accounts

MURDER CASEFILES (n=866)information about…

Murder EventViolence - Injuries - Circumstances - Situation -

IntentionsPerpetrator - Victim RelationshipEye Witnesses, Ear Witnesses & Others

Legal Process/Criminal CareerCurrent Charges & Previous Convictions

Life in PrisonEducation, Programmes & Problems

Childhood BackgroundFamily - School - Social & Legal Services

Adult Circumstances Intimate Rels - Personal Problems -Social/Legal

Services

Murder in Britain StudyRelationship Between Victim and Offender

(male offenders only, n=786)

Child Victim (M/F) 11%

Female - Partner14%

Female - Rel/Acq16%

Female - Stranger7%

Male - Rel/Acq37%

Male - Stranger15%

The Murder of Women FEMALE perpetrator & FEMALE victims only (F-F) n=29

Murder in Britain StudyMALE perpetrator & FEMALE victims only (M-F) n=330

Dobash & Dobash

COMPARISONS OF INTIMATE PARTNER MURDER

&MALE-MALE MURDER

Murder in Britain Study:IP Murder 106 men MM Murder 424 men

Dobash & Dobash

Intimate Partner Murder & Male-Male Murder Circumstances & the Murder Event

Dobash & Dobash

COMPARISONS OF INTIMATE PARTNER MURDER

&NON-LETHAL ASSAULT

Murder in Britain Study: IPMurder 106 men

Violent Men Study-Evaluation of CJ

Sanctions : IPViolence 122 abusers

Dobash & Dobash

Murder in Britain StudyLethal and Non-lethal Intimate Partner Violence

Circumstances & Murder/Violent Event

Method- Benefits to Knowledge About FemicideBenefits of this Approach:

Some general findings to date:

-Combo quantitative & qualitative data-Intensive & extensive data-Identify wide range of femicides (types)-Intensive analysis of each type-Compare different types of femicide &

other types of murder-Identify under-researched femicides

(e.g., sexual murders, older women, collaterals, etc)

-Examine dynamics of murder event(situations, circumstances, motivations)

-Knowledge about perpetrators(life-course, previous violence & offending, cognitions about murder event and the victim)

Significance of:-Gender-Men’s orientations to women &

female partners-Specialists in violence to women- Relationship

(dating, co-habitation, marriage)(tenuous, contested, conflicted)

-Separation, estrangement(‘changing the project’)

- Source of conflict- (possessiveness, jealousy, ..

-Specific violence in murder event(sex , use of objects, strangulation)

- ‘Conventional’ men who murder

Homicide - publications(2008).. ‘What were they thinking?’ Cognitions of men who kill an

intimate partner’. (in preparation).

(2008).. ‘Out of the Blue’: Men Who Murder an Intimate Partner’. Feminist Criminology, Dobash, R. E., Dobash, R. P. & Cavanagh, K. (under review).

2007.. ‘Lethal and Non-Lethal Violence Against an Intimate Partner: Comparing Male Murderers with non-lethal abusers, Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, 13, 4:1-27. Dobash, R. E.; Dobash, R. P., Cavanagh, K. & Medina-Ariza, J. J.

2007.. ‘Onset of offending and lifecourse of Men Convicted of Murder’, Homicide Studies , 11, 243-271. R.P. Dobash, R. E. Dobash, K. Cavanagh, D. Smith and J. J. Medina-Ariza.

Homicide - publications2007.. ‘The murder of children by fathers in the context of child abuse’.

Child Abuse and Neglect, 31, 731-746. K. Cavanagh, R. E. Dobash and R. P. Dobash.

2005.. ‘Men who murder children inside and outside the family’. British Jr. of Social Work, 35,667-688. Cavanagh, K. , Dobash, R.E., Dobash, R.P.

2004.. ‘Not an ordinary killer-just an ordinary guy. Men who kill their intimate female partner.’ Violence Against Women, Dobash, R.E., Dobash, R.P, Cavanagh, K. & Lewis, R.

2003.. ‘Researching homicide: Methodological issues in the exploration of lethal violence’. In R. Lee and E. Stanko (Eds.), Researching Violence: Essays on Methodology and Measurement, pp. 49-65, London: Routledge. Lewis, R., Dobash, R. E., Dobash, R. P. & Cavanagh, K.