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What Were They Thinking? Men Who Murder an Intimate Partner

NCJ Number
233361
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2011 Pages: 111-134
Author(s)
R. Emerson Dobash; Russell P. Dobash
Date Published
January 2011
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study examined the cognitions of intimate partner murderers and is based on the reports of various professionals included in the case files of 104 men convicted of murdering an intimate partner.
Abstract
The focus is on cognitions of men who murder an intimate partner and includes thinking prior to and after the murder. Based on the Murder in Britain Study, the qualitative accounts of various professionals included in the case files of 104 men convicted of murdering a woman partner are used to examine beliefs about intimate relationships, orientations toward violence and previous violence to the victim, as well as subsequent denials, rationalizations, and justifications. The authors conclude that these and other cognitions are important elements of intimate partner murder and must be challenged and changed in efforts to eliminate nonlethal abuse and murder. (Published Abstract) Notes and references