1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This retrospective clinical study reviewed coroners’ files pertaining to homicide in a domestic context in the province of Quebec over the past 20 years (1991–2010).» (p. 603)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Entre 1991 et 2010, 42 femmes québécoises ont assassiné leur conjoint. Les auteurs utilisent les dossiers reliés aux enquêtes du coroner pour ces 42 cas.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In summary, results of the present study suggest several characteristics of women who commit spousal homicide. Most of the female offenders were working in remunerated jobs, and killed their mate in the home, using a knife or gun. In almost all cases, the woman’s spouse was the only victim. Although victims of female offenders often had a history of violent behavior, most of the women who killed their mates were not subjected to previous violence by their victim. Female offenders were not likely to be depressed and often were not acutely intoxicated at the time of the homicide. Based on prior contact, the homicides were not predictable. While this study revealed consistent data and confirmed several prior findings, the evolving social tissue will likely influence ways in which partners in a spousal relationship interact. The very definition of a spousal relationship is likely to change in the future to better reflect social changes. Interestingly, same-sex partner relationships were underrepresented in this study and better attention will need to be paid to this in future studies.» (p. 611) Cette étude s’intéresse aussi à la violence conjugale, notamment pour contrecarrer le mythe voulant que les femmes tuent leur mari pour se venger de violences perpétrées par celui-ci.