Risk Factors and Agency Involvement Associated with Children Present in Domestic Homicides
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Risk Factors and Agency Involvement Associated with Children Present in Domestic Homicides Katherine Reif
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Peter Jaffe1
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Accepted: 28 October 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Children exposed to domestic violence may be at risk of homicide. Through an analysis of 140 domestic homicide cases in Ontario, Canada, this study sought to identify unique factors that heighten the risk for children in these circumstances. Two groups of domestic homicide cases were compared: cases with no children (No Children, n = 39) and cases where children were part of the family system (Children, n = 101). Further comparison was made of cases in which children were killed (n = 20) to cases in which children were present but not killed (n = 81). Overall, there were few unique differences between the groups and most of the significant findings were based on expected demographic characteristics related to having children in the family. Other significant results included a higher percentage of reports made to legal counsel/services within child-specific cases and a higher percentage of reports made to family members in cases where children were not killed. These results indicate that children who lose parents to domestic homicide share similar high-risk circumstances as children who have been killed in this context. Practical implications of the study’s findings are discussed. Keywords Domestic homicide Domestic violence Child homicide Risk factors Risk assessment Death reviews ●
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Highlights This study examined children’s risk of homicide in the context of domestic violence. ● The study compared domestic homicide cases of families with and without children. ● Study results generally indicated few unique differences between groups. ● Results suggest that children exposed to domestic homicide are at similar risk to children who are not domestic homicide victims. ●
Domestic violence has consistently been acknowledged as a significant public health concern, and is linked to adverse physical, emotional, economic effects on victims and society in general (World Health Organization WHO 2016). This form of violence involves intentional, violent, and/or controlling behaviour perpetrated by an individual towards a current or former intimate partner. The definition encompasses acts such as physical and verbal attacks, intimidation, threats, isolation, and sexual assaults and can
* Katherine Reif [email protected] 1
Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children, Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Rd. #1158, London, ON, Canada
affect individuals of all ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds (Alpert et al. 1997). In the United States, an average of 20 individuals per minute experience physical domestic violence, which equates to an annual rate of more than 10 million victims (Black 2011). In 2015, 54% of all violent victimizations were perpetrated by an intimate partner (United States Department
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