This paper reports the findings of a study of murder-suicide in Australia. The study is based on the analysis of 188 events in four states of Australia spread over a period of 20 years from 1973 to 1992. This paper focuses on two types of murder-suicide-those events in which a male offender kills his female partner and those events in which a parent kills his or her child or children. The motivations of men and women who commit murder and then kill themselves are qualitatively different. The findings are discussed from a feminist perspective and it is argued that there is a need to combine psychological and sociological frameworks for a better understanding of murder followed by suicide.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, N.H. (1983) 'Homicide Followed by Suicide; Los Angeles, 1970-1979 ' Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour13(3): 55-165.
2.
Berman, A.L. (1979) 'Dyadic Death: Murder-Suicide' Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour9(1): 15-23.
3.
Chodorow, N. (1978) The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of GenderBerkeley: University of California.
4.
Daly, M. and M. Wilson (1988) HomicideNew York: Aldine de Gruyter.
5.
Easteal, P. (1994) 'Homicide-Suicides Between Adult Sexual Intimates: An Australian Study' Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour24(2): 140-51.
6.
Goldney, R.D. (1977) 'Family Murder Followed by Suicide' Forensic Science9: 219-28.
7.
Mackenzie, R.W. (1961) Murder and the Social Process in New South Wales 1933-1957 Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Sydney: University of Sydney.
8.
MaxAndrew, C. and R.B. Edgerton (1969) Drunken Comportment: A Social ExplanationChicago: Aldine.
9.
Palmer, S. and J.A. Humphrey (1980) 'Offender-Victim Relationship in Criminal Homicide Followed by Offender's Suicide, North Carolina 1972-1977'Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour10(2): 106-18.
10.
Rod, T. ( 1980) 'Marital Murder' in J. Scutt (ed.) Violence in the Family: A Collection of Conference PapersCanberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
11.
Rosenbaum, M. (1990) 'The Role of Depression in Couples Involved in Murder-Suicide and Homicide'American Journal of Psychiatry147(8): 1036-9.
12.
Wallace, A. (1986) Homicide: The Social Reality Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Attorney General's Department .
13.
West, D.J. (1965) Murder Followed by SuicideLondon: Tavistock Publications.
14.
Wolfgang, M.E. (1958) 'An Analysis of Homicide-Suicide' Journal of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathologyxix(3): 208-18.
