> Unemployment, Access to Guns Among Factors that Turn Domestic Violence
> Deadly
>
> Press Release
> The Johns Hopkins University
> School of Nursing
> 525 North Wolfe Street
> Baltimore, Maryland 21205-2110
> www.son.jhmi.edu
>
> Contact:
> Ming Tai
> Phone: 410-614-5317
>
> Access to guns, threats to kill and most of all, unemployment, are the
> biggest predictors of the murder of women in abusive relationships,
> concludes a nationwide case control study led by Jacquelyn Campbell,
> Ph.D., R.N., professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
>
> The study, published in the July 2003 issue of the American Journal of
> Public Health, finds that a combination of factors, rather than a single
> factor, increases the likelihood that a woman will be murdered by her
> partner.
>
> Researchers identified and interviewed family members and acquaintances of
> 220 intimate partner femicide victims in 11 U.S. cities, along with 343
> women who reported physical abuse during the past two years. The relatives
> and acquaintances were people knowledgeable about the murder victims'
> relationships with the partner. The interviews used an instrument created
> by Campbell called the Danger Assessment and included questions about the
> victim and the perpetrator, characteristics of the relationship, and
> details about the abuse, including the type, frequency and severity of
> violence.
>
> Results of the study show that the abuser's lack of a job is the strongest
> social risk factor, increasing the risk of femicide fourfold. The abuser's
> access to a firearm increased the risk to more than five times, and
> threats to kill her and threats with a weapon also were strongly
> associated with homicide after taking the other factors into account.
>
> The most common relationship factors that independently increased risk
> included a home with a stepchild of the abuser, an abuser's highly
> controlling behavior, and separation. The combination of controlling
> behavior and separation made femicide five times more likely.
>
> "Such information can be useful in preventing these killings," says
> Campbell, principal investigator of the study. "In the United States,
> women are killed by intimate partners more often than by any other type of
> perpetrator, with the majority of these murders involving prior physical
> abuse. Determining key risk factors, over and above a history of domestic
> violence, that contribute to the abuse that escalates to murder will help
> us identify and intervene with battered women who are most at risk."
>
> According to Campbell, results of the study suggest that steps such as
> increasing shelter services for battered women, increasing employment
> opportunities, and restricting abusers' access to guns can potentially
> reduce rates of femicide. She says health care professionals also play a
> critical role in identifying women at high risk.
>
> When treating women who have been abused, Campbell recommends that health
> care professionals ask questions such as: Is your partner unemployed? Is
> he very controlling of your behavior all the time? Has he threatened you
> before? Is there a stepchild in the home? Is there a gun in the home?
> "These are all relatively simple questions that can help assess the level
> of risk," she says. "In cases of extreme danger, such as a situation where
> the abuser is highly controlling and the woman is preparing to leave him,
> it is important for practitioners to warn the woman not to confront the
> partner with her decision and to alert her of the risk of homicide and the
> need for shelter."
>
> The study was supported by funding from the National Institute on Alcohol
> Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National
> Institute of Mental Health, the National Institutes on Aging, the Centers
> for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Justice.
> Other authors include Daniel Webster, Sc.D., M.P.H., Phyllis Sharps,
> Ph.D., R.N., Janet Schollenberger, M.H.S., Jennifer Manganello, Ph.D.,
> M.P.H., and Kathryn Laughon, M.P.H., from Johns Hopkins University, as
> well as Jane Koziol-McLain, Ph.D., R.N., Carolyn Block, Ph.D., Doris
> Campbell, Ph.D., R.N., Mary Ann Curry, Ph.D., R.N., Faye Gary, Ph.D.,
> R.N., Nancy Glass, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., Judith McFarlane, Ph.D., R.N.,
> Carolyn Sachs, M.D., M.P.H., Yvonne Ulrich, Ph.D., R.N., Susan A. Wilt,
> Dr.P.H., Xiao Xu, Ph.D., R.N., and Victoria Frye, M.P.H.
>
> Date of Release: June 30, 2003
:banghead:
> Deadly
>
> Press Release
> The Johns Hopkins University
> School of Nursing
> 525 North Wolfe Street
> Baltimore, Maryland 21205-2110
> www.son.jhmi.edu
>
> Contact:
> Ming Tai
> Phone: 410-614-5317
>
> Access to guns, threats to kill and most of all, unemployment, are the
> biggest predictors of the murder of women in abusive relationships,
> concludes a nationwide case control study led by Jacquelyn Campbell,
> Ph.D., R.N., professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
>
> The study, published in the July 2003 issue of the American Journal of
> Public Health, finds that a combination of factors, rather than a single
> factor, increases the likelihood that a woman will be murdered by her
> partner.
>
> Researchers identified and interviewed family members and acquaintances of
> 220 intimate partner femicide victims in 11 U.S. cities, along with 343
> women who reported physical abuse during the past two years. The relatives
> and acquaintances were people knowledgeable about the murder victims'
> relationships with the partner. The interviews used an instrument created
> by Campbell called the Danger Assessment and included questions about the
> victim and the perpetrator, characteristics of the relationship, and
> details about the abuse, including the type, frequency and severity of
> violence.
>
> Results of the study show that the abuser's lack of a job is the strongest
> social risk factor, increasing the risk of femicide fourfold. The abuser's
> access to a firearm increased the risk to more than five times, and
> threats to kill her and threats with a weapon also were strongly
> associated with homicide after taking the other factors into account.
>
> The most common relationship factors that independently increased risk
> included a home with a stepchild of the abuser, an abuser's highly
> controlling behavior, and separation. The combination of controlling
> behavior and separation made femicide five times more likely.
>
> "Such information can be useful in preventing these killings," says
> Campbell, principal investigator of the study. "In the United States,
> women are killed by intimate partners more often than by any other type of
> perpetrator, with the majority of these murders involving prior physical
> abuse. Determining key risk factors, over and above a history of domestic
> violence, that contribute to the abuse that escalates to murder will help
> us identify and intervene with battered women who are most at risk."
>
> According to Campbell, results of the study suggest that steps such as
> increasing shelter services for battered women, increasing employment
> opportunities, and restricting abusers' access to guns can potentially
> reduce rates of femicide. She says health care professionals also play a
> critical role in identifying women at high risk.
>
> When treating women who have been abused, Campbell recommends that health
> care professionals ask questions such as: Is your partner unemployed? Is
> he very controlling of your behavior all the time? Has he threatened you
> before? Is there a stepchild in the home? Is there a gun in the home?
> "These are all relatively simple questions that can help assess the level
> of risk," she says. "In cases of extreme danger, such as a situation where
> the abuser is highly controlling and the woman is preparing to leave him,
> it is important for practitioners to warn the woman not to confront the
> partner with her decision and to alert her of the risk of homicide and the
> need for shelter."
>
> The study was supported by funding from the National Institute on Alcohol
> Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National
> Institute of Mental Health, the National Institutes on Aging, the Centers
> for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Justice.
> Other authors include Daniel Webster, Sc.D., M.P.H., Phyllis Sharps,
> Ph.D., R.N., Janet Schollenberger, M.H.S., Jennifer Manganello, Ph.D.,
> M.P.H., and Kathryn Laughon, M.P.H., from Johns Hopkins University, as
> well as Jane Koziol-McLain, Ph.D., R.N., Carolyn Block, Ph.D., Doris
> Campbell, Ph.D., R.N., Mary Ann Curry, Ph.D., R.N., Faye Gary, Ph.D.,
> R.N., Nancy Glass, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., Judith McFarlane, Ph.D., R.N.,
> Carolyn Sachs, M.D., M.P.H., Yvonne Ulrich, Ph.D., R.N., Susan A. Wilt,
> Dr.P.H., Xiao Xu, Ph.D., R.N., and Victoria Frye, M.P.H.
>
> Date of Release: June 30, 2003
:banghead: