Jealousy as a correlate of intimate partner homicide-suicide versus homicide-only cases: National Violent Death Reporting System, 2016–2020

Introduction The objective of this study was to compare jealousy as a correlate of intimate partner homicide-suicide cases to homicide-only cases using data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), a state-based surveillance system maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jealousy is categorized as jealous feelings or distress over a current […]

Disproportionate burden of violence: Explaining racial and ethnic disparities in potential years of life lost among homicide victims, suicide decedents, and homicide-suicide perpetrators

Research indicates that the burden of violent death in the United States is disproportionate across racial and ethnic groups. Yet documented disparities in rates of violent death do not capture the full extent of this inequity. Recent studies examining race-specific rates of potential years of life lost—a summary measure of premature mortality—indicate that persons of […]

A systematic review of literature on homicide followed by suicide and mental state of perpetrators

Background: Homicide followed by suicide is rare, devastating and perpetrated worldwide. It is commonly assumed that the perpetrator had a mental disorder, raising concomitant questions about prevention. Though events have been reported, there has been no previous systematic review of the mental health of perpetrators. Aims: Our aims were twofold. First, to identify whether there are recognisable […]

Intimate partner homicide: Comparison between homicide and homicide-suicide in Portugal

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a tragic event. Studies involving the comparison between IPH and intimate partner homicide-suicide (IPH-S) are scarce, with few studies in Portugal about this issue. The current study aims to compare IPH and IPH-S perpetrators, the victim–perpetrator relationships dynamics, and homicide circumstances. The data was collected through the analysis of 78 […]

Intimate partner homicide: Comparison between homicide and homicide-suicide in Portugal

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a tragic event. Studies involving the comparison between IPH and intimate partner homicide-suicide (IPH-S) are scarce, with few studies in Portugal about this issue. The current study aims to compare IPH and IPH-S perpetrators, the victim–perpetrator relationships dynamics, and homicide circumstances. The data was collected through the analysis of 78 […]

Association between the New York SAFE Act and firearm suicide and homicide: An analysis of synthetic controls, New York State, 1999-2019

Objectives. To assess the association between the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (NY SAFE Act) and firearm suicide and homicide rates. Methods. We employed a synthetic controls approach to investigate the impact of the NY SAFE Act on firearm suicide and firearm homicide rates. We collected state-level data on firearm mortality from the Centers for […]

Homicide or suicide? A probabilistic approach for the evaluation of the manner of death in sharp force fatalities

The role of forensic science can be defined as providing relevant opinions to assist investigators and courts of law in answering questions. The Likelihood Ratio (LR) provides a quantitative and logical approach to communicating the strength of expert evidence. We reviewed existing forensic literature on sharp force fatalities, focusing on studies reporting the manner of […]

In the name of love or hatred: A systematic comparison between filicide-suicide and mariticide/uxoricide-suicide in Hong Kong

While much of work on homicide-suicide (HS) arises out of the USA and the UK, there is a paucity of research on HS outside of the Anglo-American sphere. This paper investigates HS in Hong Kong (HK), comparing the subtypes of filicide-suicide (FS) and mariticide/uxoricide-suicide (MUS) in that context as a means of testing the generalizability […]

Research utility and limitations of textual data in the National Violent Death Reporting System: A scoping review and recommendations

Background Many studies of injury deaths rely on mortality data that contain limited contextual information about decedents. The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) is unique among such data systems in that each observation includes both quantitative variables and qualitative texts (called “narratives”) abstracted from original source documents. These narratives provide rich data regarding salient […]

Media representation of gender patterns of suicide in Taiwan

Background: Extensive media reporting of suicide events has been indicated as a contributing factor to the upsurge in suicide rates in Taiwan in the past decade. Aims: The study compares gender differences in sociodemographic profiles and method of suicide selectively reported in the newspapers and all suicide cases registered in official death records. It also identifies gender differences […]

One stream, two channels? A parallel-process latent class growth model of homicide rates and suicide rates in 183 countries, between 2000 and 2019

Background Suicide and homicide have long been viewed in Western culture as moral, ethical and legal equivalents. This view has underpinned many theoretical and empirical explorations into their relationship over the centuries. However, there has been little evaluation of longitudinal heterogeneity. Methods Suicide and homicide rates in 183 countries between 2000 and 2019 were collected […]

Exploring the risk of resulting in homicide and suicide in Spanish missing person cases

The study explores in depth the relationship between missing persons’ psychosocial and criminological characteristics/circumstances and violent-fatal outcomes (suicide and homicide). A relational analytical explicative study of 929 cases and controls was designed using a retrospective and stratified design. Data gathering was conducted through the content analysis of judicial and police information, as well as the […]

Seasonal and temporal patterns of homicides and suicides in Cali and Manizales, Colombia: A times-series analysis 2008-2015

Objective To identify seasonal and temporal variations in daily incidence of homicides and suicides in Cali and Manizales, Colombia during 2008–2015. Materials and methods An ecological time series study was performed using negative binomial regression models for daily incidence of homicides and suicides; analyses were controlled for yearly trends and temporal autocorrelations. Results Saturdays, Sundays, […]

The psychology of gender, economics, and homicide on suicide in Jamaica: Using time series data from 2000-2019

Introduction: There are approximately 800,000 suicides globally each year, with most cases occurring in low to middle-income countries. An individual commits suicide every 40 seconds. Methods and Materials: This study employs Durkheim’s theory on suicide to explain the macro levels of this phenomenon. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) […]

A comparative analysis of solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts using the National Violent Death Reporting System

Background Incidents of suicide can be categorized into three main types: solitary suicides, suicides following homicide, and suicide pacts. Although these three suicide incidents vary by definition, no studies to-date have simultaneously examined and compared them for potential differences. The objective of the current study was to empirically and descriptively compare solitary suicides, suicides following […]

Perpetrator mental health: Depression and suicidality as risk factors for domestic homicide (IN: Preventing Domestic Suicides: Lessons Learned from Tragedies, edited by P. Jaffe, K. Scott & A-L. Straatman)

In this chapter, we explore depression and suicidality as risk factors for domestic violence (DV) homicide. We begin by outlining evidence for the importance of depression and suicidality in potential perpetrators of lethal DV and discuss the specific case of homicide–suicide. We speculate on some of the reasons that these factors have not been more […]

The duality of risk from threats: Are homicidal threats a novel determinant for suicide risk?

Suicide and homicide have long been considered to sit at opposing ends of a continuum of deliberate harm, initially emerging as separate fields of practice. While it is now accepted that suicide and homicide are associated, the evidence base for how they are associated is far from complete. Surfacing from this body of knowledge are […]

Circumstances preceding homicide-suicides involving child victims: A qualitative analysis

Homicide-suicide incidents involving child victims can have a detrimental impact on survivors of the violence, family members and friends of the decedents, and other community members, but the rare occurrence of these acts makes using quantitative data to examine their associated antecedents challenging. Therefore, using qualitative data from the 2003-2011 National Violent Death Reporting System, […]

Might the COVID-19 pandemic spur increased murder-suicide?

Purpose – The coronavirus 2019(COVID-19) pandemic has prompted concerns about an increased risk for psychological distress, broadly and suicide mortality, specifically; it is, as yet, unclear if these concerns will be realized, but they are plausible. Design/methodology/approach – The authors demonstrate why researchers, clinicians, policymakers and other public health stakeholders should be vigilant to the […]

The relationship of nursing practice laws to suicide and homicide rates: A longitudinal analysis of US states from 2012 to 2016

Background Nursing resources can have a protective effect on patient outcomes, but nurses and nursing scope of practice have not been studied in relation to injury outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether scope of practice and ease of practice laws for nurse practitioners and registered nurses are associated with suicide and […]

Correlates of intimate partner homicide among male suicide decedents with known intimate partner problems

Objective Intimate partner (IP) problems are risk factors for suicide among men. However, there is little understanding of why some male suicide decedents who had such problems killed their partners before death (i.e., “IP homicide‐suicide”), while most of these decedents did not. To inform prevention efforts, this study identified correlates of IP homicide among male […]

Factors contributing to homicide-suicide: Differences between firearm and non-firearm deaths

The primary aim of this study is to determine the relationship between situational factors, method of death, and homicide-suicide deaths, specifically comparing method of death (firearm vs. nonfirearm) across these factors. We used data from the national violence death reporting system, a reporting system for violent deaths that links data from multiple sources. We included […]

Comparison of rates of firearm and nonfirearm homicide and suicide in black and white non-Hispanic men, by U.S. State.

BACKGROUND: The extent to which differences in homicide and suicide rates in black versus white men vary by U.S. state is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the rates of firearm and nonfirearm homicide and suicide in black and white non-Hispanic men by U.S. state and to examine whether these deaths are associated with state prevalence of […]