Carolyn Rebecca Block

Risk factors for femicide-suicide in abusive relationships: results from a multisite case control study

The killing of women by men who then take their own lives (femicide-suicide) is the most common form of homicide-suicide. This study identified femicide-suicide risk factors in an 11-city case-control study of femicide in the United States. Perpetrator, victim, relationship, and incident characteristics were analyzed for femicide-suicide cases (n = 67) and controls (n = 356, women living in the community with nonfatal physical abuse) using logistic regression modeling. Two risk factors emerged that were unique to femicide-suicides cases compared to overall femicide risk analyses: prior perpetrator suicide threats and victims having ever been married to the perpetrator.

BEGINNING WITH WOLFGANG: AN AGENDA FOR HOMICIDE RESEARCH

ABSTRACT In his study of homicide patterns in Philadelphia from 1948 to 1952, Marvin Wolfgang pioneered description as a tool in theory-building, using systematic observation to check the validity of conventional wisdom against stark reality. 7% paper reviews two influential but controversial concepts that grew out of that research - victim precipitation and the subculture of violence. It begins with an overview of the theoretical, definitional and methodological difficulties that have limited the impact of victim precipitation and the subculture of violence on homicide research, pointing out the valuable aspects of the concepts for explaining differential patterns of serious and lethal violence. It then considers how these aspects might be developed into a more general theory, which would avoid some of the difficulties of the original concepts. Finally, the paper suggests ways in which coordination of theory and methodology within projects and between researchers might aid in the development of models of...

Maximizing the Availability of Cross-National Data on Homicide

Because the number of countries in the world is relatively small comparedwith other data sets, missing data present a major problem in cross-national homicide research. This article illustrates how missing data problems in comparative homicide research may be addressed by composite measures. Indexes such as the International Homicide Index, which takes advantage of multiple data sources on homicide, not only maximize thenumber of countries represented by the indicator but also produce a more parsimonious and robust measure of lethal violence levels across nations. In addition, the combination of multiple indicators in a single index provides checks and balances on data quality, minimizing the influence of poor-quality data and maximizing the influence of valid and reliable data. This article reviews the history and details the method of creating the International Homicide Index.

Seeking Help from the Police: Battered Women’s Decisions and Experiences

Using data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study (CWHRS), which includes a sample of battered women (n = 500; 69% African American and 21.3% Latina) and a sample of abused women who either killed or were killed by their intimate partners (n = 63; 81% African American and 10% Latina), we find that several factors affect battered women’s decisions to contact the police and their experiences with the police, including the severity and frequency of violence, other harassing behaviors committed by the abuser, the length of the relationship, and the women’s social support network.

Beyond Public Records Databases: Field Strategies for Locating and Interviewing Proxy Respondents in Homicide Research

As a means of better understanding homicide incidents, methods for identifying, locating, and interviewing confidants of homicide victims are still in their infancy. This article discusses a set of strategies that worked in studies conducted on risk of injury and death in intimate partner relationships in Houston and Chicago and key factors that may affect completion rates of proxy interviews. Primary considerations when using proxy respondent methodology include maximizing the use of public records, hiring and training interviewers for fieldwork skills as well as interview skills, and developing a protocol for interviewer and respondent safety.

Homicide Against or by the Elderly in Chicago 1965-2000

Typical circumstances under which the elderly are killed not only differ from typical circumstances under which children or younger adults are killed, but also vary depending on the victim’s gender and age group (ages 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, and 85 or older). Similarly, the typical circumstances under which the elderly commit homicide not only differ from typical circumstances for other offenders, but vary according to the offender’s gender and age group. In analysis of victim-level and offender-level versions of the Chicago Homicide Data set, we describe trends over time and situational patterns in homicides of the elderly or by the elderly.

Space-time characteristics of micro-scale crime occurrences: an application of a network-based space-time search window technique for crime incidents in Chicago

This study investigates patterns of micro-scale concentrations of different types of crime using the network distance in the spatial, temporal and spatial-temporal dimensions to enable an accurate description of the micro-scale geospatial variation of crime incidents. It applies a recently developed hotspot detection method that uses a network-based space-time search window technique. The method is refined by adopting the false discovery rate controlling procedure for the multiple testing problem. Empirical analysis uses individual street-address records of robbery, burglary, drug and vehicle theft incidents in a high-crime neighbourhood of Chicago in the year 2000. The study revealed a fine-scale, street-address-level space-time signature for each type of crime. Drugs and robbery formed stable space-time hotspots in specific locations, highlighting their recurrent nature. Burglary was characterised by a small set of short-term outbursts across space and time, and vehicle thefts showed little sign of concentrations. Comparing these results against their spatial signature helped identify different types of hotspots such as persistent warm spots and a hotspot consisting of a short-term outburst.The result demonstrates the significance of the street-level analysis from the microscopic perspective, which can help form a more focused policing tactic.

Margo Wilson’s Contributions to the Chicago Homicide Dataset Sexual Rivalry and Sexual Jealousy

Margo Wilson has been crucial to the development of the Chicago Homicide Data Set (CHD) beginning in 1987, when she and Martin Daly joined the project. She spent 2 years collecting detailed information on intimate partner homicides, and inspired the addition of variables, such as whether the victim and offender resided together, the offender’s sexual jealousy, the offender’s sexual rivalry, and whether the offender was motivated by the victim’s estrangement or attempted desertion. This article reviews Margo Wilson’s many contributions and presents analyses showing the importance of differentiating between sexual jealousy and sexual rivalry in research on intimate partner homicide.

The Homicide Research Working Group: A History and Description

During the past five centuries in what is now the United States, a significant minority – in some periods a majority – of intentional killings were not treated as contrary to the norms of the killer’s society. But preliminary to any study of such socially-sanctioned homicides is trying to decide which sorts of killings qualify. Some – acts of war, summary and legal execution, self-defense killings – are obvious. Other deaths – in some riots and lynchings, those incidental to war, vigilante activities – are less clear cut. Some killings that are not state sanctioned may be socially sanctioned, with governments unable to punish the killer. Recognizing the need to understand such variables as society, homicide, and sanctioning, this paper hazards to define the term “socially-sanctioned homicide in the United States” for group discussion and revision.