Partner Killing by Men in Cohabiting and Marital Relationships: A Comparative, Cross-National Analysis of Data From Australia and the United States

Using a national-level U.S. database, T. K. Shackelford (2001) calculated rates of uxoricide (the murder of a woman by her romantic partner) by relationship type (cohabiting or marital), by ages of the partners, and by the age difference between partners. Women in cohabiting relationships were 9 tim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2005-10, Vol.20 (10), p.1310-1324
Main Authors: Shackelford, Todd K., Mouzos, Jenny
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Differences
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Aged
Australia
Australia - epidemiology
Cohabitation
Couples
Cross cultural studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Crosscultural Differences
Cultural Differences
Domestic violence
Female
Females
Homicide
Homicide - psychology
Homicide - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Individual Differences
Male
Marital Relations
Marital Status
Marriage
Men
Middle Aged
Murders & murder attempts
Population Surveillance - methods
Risk Factors
Sexual Partners - psychology
Significant Others
Socioeconomic Factors
Spouse Abuse - psychology
Spouse Abuse - statistics & numerical data
United States - epidemiology
United States of America
Women's Health
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Summary:Using a national-level U.S. database, T. K. Shackelford (2001) calculated rates of uxoricide (the murder of a woman by her romantic partner) by relationship type (cohabiting or marital), by ages of the partners, and by the age difference between partners. Women in cohabiting relationships were 9 times more likely to be killed by their partner than were married women. Within marriages, the risk of uxoricide decreases with a woman’s age. Within cohabiting relationships, middle-aged women were at greatest risk of uxoricide. The risk of uxoricide increased with greater age difference between partners. We sought to replicate the findings of Shackelford (2001) using a national-level database that includes information on more than 4,400 homicides that occurred in Australia between 1989 and 2002. Despite the higher rate of partner killing in the United States, and despite other cultural differences between the two countries, we replicated key patterns with the Australian data.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260505278606