1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The main objective of this study is to describe the psychosocial characteristics and motivations of male perpetrators of filicide. Secondly, clinical cases are presented to illustrate the psychosocial issues and highlight different profiles of perpetrators of this type of crime.» (p. 472)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
All the 50 male filicides occurred in Quebec between 1997 and 2012 were included in this study. Moreover, «five clinical cases were selected from all the files and are presented in the form of vignettes to expand the study of the psychosocial profiles of these men. […] The data in this study were indexed using the Grille d’analyse multidimensionnelle de l’homicide intrafamilial developed by Léveillée et al. (2005). This grid allows the identification of the sociodemographic, criminological, psychological-psychiatric characteristics and the motivations of the men who committed an intrafamilial homicide. […] Each file was compiled from data available from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Quebec and from newspaper articles.» (p. 473)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The results of the study show that about half of the group of perpetrators of filicide was between 18 and 35 years old. A minority of men were over 56 years of age. More than half of the group was in a relationship at the time of the filicide. The majority of victims were between 0 and 5 years of age, and a minority of them were between 6 and 14 years old. The proportions of girls and boys who were victims were similar for the filicides committed between 2007 and 2012. […] In addition, the results highlight that the main motivation for committing filicide is retaliation against one’s spouse as a result of spousal separation, followed by fatal physical abuse (mistreatment resulting in death). A low percentage of perpetrators of filicide are motivated by a disturbed mental state. These results are consistent with previous studies that have investigated the same issues […]. Indeed, studies show that male filicide is frequently committed in the context of a breakup. Spousal separation is thus an important trigger of violence in individuals with psychological frailties […]. Additionally, the majority of the perpetrators of filicide with a disturbed mental state had been hospitalized during the year preceding the crime […].» (p. 481)