Can Justice System Interventions Prevent Intimate Partner Homicide? An Analysis of Rates of Help Seeking Prior to Fatality

Leaking in Intimate Partner Homicide: A Systematic Review

Intimate partner homicides (IPH) are serious offenses by a heterogeneous group of offenders with diverse risk factors that are too unspecific for the successful prediction of an offense. Recent research suggested several warning signs that may precede IPH and enhance its prevention, but little is still known about "leaking." Leaking comprises all offense-related statements, behaviors, or actions that express the perpetrator's thoughts, fantasies, ideas, interests, feelings, intentions, plans, or positive evaluations of an own violent act or previous similar offenses prior to the own attack. This review aims to identify the forms, recipients, and media of leaking as well as potential subgroup differences in cases of IPH. We identified 47 relevant publications via a systematic search of eight databases and additional methods. We included publications that did not explicitly use the term, but described behaviors that could be interpreted as leaking. Up to now, leaking has not been systematically researched in cases of IPH. Nevertheless, publications described several behaviors that are in line with our definition of leaking and were categorized into five broader categories: (a) homicide announcements, (b) previous severe acts of violence, (c) suicidal behavior, (d) planning activities, and (e) interest in similar offenses/offenders. Information on recipients and media as well as subgroup differences was sparse. Leaking is relevant in IPH, but more systematic research is needed to understand its potential role in future risk analyses procedures and prevention of IPH.

Murdered Indigenous Women: A Comparison Study of Victim and Perpetrator Patterns and Characteristics

INTRODUCTION

The rate of violent crimes against Indigenous people, including murder and rape, is significantly higher than national averages. Even more concerning, Indigenous women and girls represent a large proportion of murdered and missing individuals in the United States. In addition to the murder rate of Indigenous women being higher than the national average, they are significantly more likely to experience rape or other types of sexual violence. The main goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of cases involving the homicide of Indigenous women and identify patterns associated with the violence committed against them.

METHODS

Cases of Indigenous women between the ages of 18 and 55 years were pulled from the database. Cases were coded and analyzed for information pertaining to victim, perpetrator, and crime characteristics. Descriptive analysis and test of association were performed.

RESULTS/FINDINGS

There was a statistical association between the nature of the relationship between perpetrators and victims and whether the crime occurred on a reservation, the race/ethnicity of the perpetrator, a victim's history of domestic violence, and the method and motive of murder.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Indigenous women are at an increased risk of victimization, including intimate partner violence and homicide. They also represent a group that has been marginalized, receiving little attention from the media, clinicians, researchers, and policy makers. The findings in this study highlight specific factors that may help to mitigate risk factors and/or enhance culturally competent clinical and forensic nursing practice.

Intimate Partner Violence Among International and Interprovincial Migrants: A Population-Based Analysis of Canadian Linked Immigration and Justice Data

Factors associated with IPV among immigrant women are not well understood. Using linked immigration and justice data, we compared the incidence of justice-identified IPV (JIIPV) among 58,564 international immigrant women born outside of Canada, 30,098 women born in other Canadian provinces (i.e., interprovincial migrants), and 88,662 long-term Manitoban resident women. International immigrant women had the lowest incidence of JIIPV compared to matched long-term Manitobans (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.49, 95% CI: 0.43-0.56) and interprovincial migrants (aHR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.43-0.73). Among immigrants, JIIPV varied substantially according to birthplace, increased with length of residence, and was less frequent among secondary immigrants.

A comparative analysis of solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts using the National Violent Death Reporting System

BACKGROUND

Incidents of suicide can be categorized into three main types: solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts. Although these three suicide incidents vary by definition, no studies to-date have simultaneously examined and compared them for potential differences. The objective of the current study was to empirically and descriptively compare solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts in the United States.

METHODS

Restricted-access data from the National Violent Death Report System for 2003-2019 for 262,679 solitary suicides, 4,352 suicides following homicide, and 450 suicide pacts were used. Pairwise comparisons of the three suicide incident types were made for demographic factors, method of suicide, preceding circumstances, mental health status, and toxicology findings.

RESULTS

Solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts have distinct profiles, with statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences across all pairwise comparisons of sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, education, method of suicide, financial problems, interpersonal relationship problems, physical health problems, mental health problems, mood disorders, suicide attempt history, and opiate use at the time of death.

CONCLUSION

Despite sharing a few commonalities, solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts represent distinct phenomena. Each of these suicide incident types likely have their own unique prevention pathways.

Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence and Intimate Partner Homicide: A Typology Based on Victimization Variables

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and intimate partner homicide against women (IPHAW) are multidimensional phenomena. The aim of this study was to identify typologies of Spanish IPHAW and IPVAW victims, based on the differences between their characteristics and the determinants of aggression. The sample consisted of 381 cases from the Spanish Integral Monitoring System in Cases of Gender Violence. The instrument used was a semi-structured interview. Results showed differences between IPHAW and IPVAW victims, and latent class analysis suggested a three-profile solution: 1-fatal victims, with low neuroticism, low isolation, and feelings of loneliness, less reconciliation with the aggressor, lower perception of risk and low suicidal ideation; 2-non-fatal victims, with the loss of a loved one and the role of caregiver as stressors, low psychoticism and alcohol abuse, high feelings of loneliness, risk perception, and suicidal ideation; 3-mixed profile, with high neuroticism and psychoticism, alcohol abuse, isolation, and greater reconciliations with the aggressor, and absence of bereavement and caregiver role as stressors. Knowing the differences between IPHAW and IPVAW victims allows the design of more specific instruments for risk assessment and the design of more individualized prevention and treatment programs. This also facilitates police work in identifying victims and deploying more intense protection measures.

The Impact of Depressive Symptoms on Response to Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders and Intimate Partner Violence

Purpose

Past studies demonstrated the efficacy of integrated cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for substance use disorder (SUD) and intimate partner violence (IPV) as well as high rates of depressive symptoms in this population. However, little is known about how depressive symptoms impact treatment outcomes. We hypothesized that integrated CBT, but not standard drug counseling (DC), would buffer the negative effects of depressive symptoms on treatment response.

Design/methodology/approach

A secondary analysis of a randomized trial compared men assigned to 12 weeks of integrated CBT for SUD and IPV (n=29) to those in DC (n=34).

Findings

Most (60%) of the sample reported any depressive symptoms. Controlling for baseline IPV, reporting any depressive symptoms was associated with more positive cocaine screens during treatment. Among men with depressive symptoms, integrated CBT but not DC was associated with fewer positive cocaine screens. Controlling for baseline alcohol variables, integrated CBT and depressive symptoms were each associated with less aggression outside of intimate relationships (e.g., family, strangers) during treatment. For men without depressive symptoms, integrated CBT was associated with less non-IPV aggression compared to DC. Effects were not significant for other substances, IPV, or at follow-up.

Originality

Although integrated CBT's efficacy for improving SUD and IPV has been established, moderators of treatment response have not been investigated.

Practical Implications

Integrated CBT buffered depressive symptoms' impact on cocaine use, yet only improved non-IPV aggression in men without depressive symptoms.

Research Limitations/Implications

This study found some evidence for differential response to CBT by depressive symptoms on cocaine and aggression at end of treatment, which did not persist three months later. Future studies should explore mechanisms of integrated CBT for SUD and IPV, including mood regulation, on depressive symptoms in real-world samples.

The Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide (AzIPH) Study: a Step toward Updating and Expanding Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide

Despite the importance of intimate partner violence (IPV) and homicide research to women's health and safety, much remains unknown about risk factors for intimate partner homicide (IPH). This article presents the Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide Study, pilot research that is being conducted in one U.S. state to update and expand on risk factors for IPH. In the context of presenting this study, we summarize the literature on data collection techniques, various marginalized and under researched populations, and the importance of gathering data about the victim-offender relationship and situational IPH risk factors. Additional research is needed to update risk factors for IPH to account for changes in technology and to examine differential risk across diverse populations. Local, community based data collection strategies are likely to provide more comprehensive and nuanced insight into IPH; though, to understand risk factors among marginalized populations, it may be necessary to increase sample size through a national strategy. Although not a panacea, we present this ongoing research as a model for other states to emulate and improve upon, in the hopes of developing more comprehensive data examining risk for IPH among victims of IPV.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Police Reporting for Partner Violence in the National Crime Victimization Survey and Survivor-Led Interpretation

Despite compromising women's health and safety, intimate partner violence (IPV) is among the most underreported crimes, and our understanding of factors that drive police reporting by race/ethnicity is underdeveloped. The purpose of this study is to examine racial/ethnic differences in self-reporting IPV to police. Race/ethnicity-stratified models identified predictors of reporting IPV to police among recent, female survivors (n = 898) in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS; 2011-15). Focus groups (n = 3) with recent survivors (n = 19) in Baltimore, MD (2018), contextualized results. Black women in the NCVS were twice as likely to report IPV to police relative to White women (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.01-4.15). In race/ethnicity-stratified models, police reporting significantly increased with increasing age between 18 and < 35 years (AOR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05-1.33) for Black women, and with IPV-related injury for Black (AOR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.10-5.71) and Hispanic women (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.22-6.71); Hispanics with less than a high school education were least likely to report (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.07-0.91). Focus groups explained racial/ethnic influences on reporting including a culture of silence and discrimination, socioeconomic status, and social desirability. We identified influences on reporting IPV to police that vary by race/ethnicity using national data in context to an urban environment. Results demonstrate the need to enhance equity in survivors' health and public safety through training and organizational change.