When Men Murder Women Interpersonal Violence Series SERIES EDITORS Claire Renzetti, Ph.D. Jeffrey L. Edleson, Ph.D. Parenting by Men Who Batter: New Directions for Assessment and Intervention Edited by Jeffrey L. Edleson and Oliver J. Williams Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life Evan Stark Childhood Victimization: Violence, Crime, and Abuse in the Lives of Young People David Finkelhor Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women Edited by James Ptacek Familicidal Hearts: The Emotional Styles of 211 Killers Neil Websdale Violence in Context: Current Evidence on Risk, Protection, and Prevention Edited by Todd I. Herrenkohl, Eugene Aisenberg, James Herbert Williams, and Jeffrey M. Jenson Poverty, Battered Women, and Work in U.S. Public Policy Lisa D. Brush Child Victims and Restorative Justice: A Needs-Rights Model Tali Gal Battered Women’s Protective Strategies Sherry Hamby Men Who Batter Nancy Nason-Clark and Barbara Fisher-Townsend When Men Murder Women R. Emerson Dobash and Russell P. Dobash When Men Murder Women R. EMERSON DOBASH AND RUSSELL P. DOBASH 1 3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dobash, R. Emerson. When men murder women / R. Emerson Dobash and Russell P. Dobash. pages cm.—(Interpersonal violence) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–991478–4 (alk. paper) 1. Women—Violence against. 2. Murder. 3. Violence in men. 4. Murderers—Psychology. I. Dobash, Russell. II. Title. HV6250.4.W65D625 2015 364.152′3–dc23 2014038913 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Kate Cavanagh and Margo Wilson In loving memory of lifelong friends, fellow researchers, and colleagues who were dedicated to doing research that mattered in the wider effort to understand violence and to improve the lives of all those affected by it. CONTENTS List of Figures  ix List of Tables  xi Preface  xiii Acknowledgments  xv Abbreviations  xvii 1. Homicide Across Time and Place: Expanding Knowledge and Refining Focus 1 PART I Intimate Partner Murder  2. The Knowledge—Intimate Partner Murder  23 3. Intimate Partner Murder—The Murder Event: Relationships, Contexts, and Circumstances  37 4. Intimate Partner Murder—Perpetrators: Lifecourse, Orientations, and Cognitions  67 PART II Sexual Murder 5. The Knowledge—Sexual Murder 105 6. Sexual Murder—The Murder Event: Relationships, Contexts, and Circumstances  121 7. Sexual Murder—Perpetrators: Lifecourse, Orientations, and Cognitions  153 PART III Murder of Older Women 8. The Knowledge—Murder of Older Women  191 9. Older Women—The Murder Event: Relationships, Contexts, and Circumstances  201 10. Murder of Older Women—Perpetrators: Lifecourse, Orientations, and Cognitions  221 11. When Men Murder Women: Comparisons and Conclusions  245 viii Contents APPENDIX I Murder Study  265 Data Collection and Analysis—Casefiles and Interviews  265 I.1. Casefiles—Data Collection Instrument and Codebook for SPSS (list of contents only)  266 I.2. Interview Schedule—Cover Page (including list of topics for interview)  267 I.3. Casefiles—Variable Specification for SPSS  268 I.4. Nud*ist/QSR—Nodes/Categories (Qualitative Data from Casefiles and Interviews)  272 APPENDIX II Murder Study 277 Casefiles—Achieved Sample and Murder of Women by Men  277 APPENDIX III Intimate Partner Murder (IPM)  281 APPENDIX IV Sexual Murder (SexM)  289 APPENDIX V Murder of Older Women (OWoM)  297 Notes  303 References  313 Author Index  327 Subject Index  331 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Casefiles—All Men and Women Murdered by Men, n = 695*  17 1.2 Casefiles—Three Types of Murder of Women by Men, n = 243*  18 INTIMATE PARTNER MURDER (IPM) (CHAPTERS 3–4) 3.0 IPM—Relationship Between Perpetrators and Victims (Appendix.III for Ch3)  282 3.1 IPM—Circumstances at Murder. Male-Male Murder and Intimate Partner Murder  65 4.1 IPM—Childhood: Male-Male Murder and Intimate Partner Murder  99 4.2 IPM—Adulthood: Male-Male Murder and Intimate Partner Murder  100 4.3 IPM—Assessments in Prison: Male-Male Murder and Intimate Partner Murder  101 SEXUAL MURDER (SexM) (CHAPTERS 6–7) 6.0 SexM—Relationship Between Perpetrators and Victims (Appendix.IV for Ch6)  290 6.1 SexM—Circumstances at Murder: Male-Male Murder and Sexual Murder  151 7.1 SexM—Childhood: Male-Male Murder and Sexual Murder  186 7.2 SexM—Adulthood: Male-Male Murder and Sexual Murder  187 7.3 SexM—Assessments in Prison: Male-Male Murder and Sexual Murder  188 MURDER OF OLDER WOMEN (OWoM) (CHAPTERS 9–10) 9.0 OWoM—Relationship Between Perpetrators and Victims (Appendix.V for Ch9)  298