ABSTRACT
Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and femicide (intimate partner femicide, IPF), as a worldwide phenomenon, cannot be explained in a simple way. From an ecological point of view, there are individual factors contemplated. In the current studies, we consider personality as an individual factor to clarify what differentiates a non-lethal IPVAW situation from a femicide. Study 1 was designed to investigate the accuracy with which trained interviewers judged the personality of a group of IPVAW perpetrators during an interview. The target sample of study 1 was composed of 293 males who after being interviewed completed a measure of personality assessing the "Big Three" model of personality. The interviewers performed fairly accurate judgements about the personality of the target participants. Study 2 shows the differences in personality, using Eysenck's personality model, between the IPF and IPVAW perpetrators and their victims. The total sample study 2 was formed of 551 participants distributed among IPF perpetrators, IPVAW perpetrators, and the victims of both groups. Differences in proportions were observed between both groups of perpetrators as well as between each group and their respective victims. With these findings, we propose personality as a femicide risk factor that should be taken into consideration by police officers and other practitioners when receiving an IPVAW report.
ABSTRACT
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 development of psychological autopsy techniques and semi-structured interviews with the persons involved in the missing person cases including offenders in prison. Bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques were utilised for analyses. The findings showed that there are different risk and protective factors which can distinguish between good state of health, suicide, and homicide outcomes. This research entails implications for prevention and police risk assessment system.
