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The Role of Misogyny in Patterns of Homicide

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The Role of Misogyny in Patterns of Homicide Thesis The Role of Misogyny in Patterns of Homicide: A Historical Survey Examining the Killing of Women by Men in a Midwestern City (Approximate Population of 200,000), 1975-1979 by Jacquelyn Campbell Abstract The Role of Misogyny in Patterns of Homicide: A Historical Survey Examining the Killing of Women by Men in a Midwestern City (Approximate Population of 200,000), 1975-1979 Analysis of all cases of homicide involving women as victim and/or perpetrator in Dayton, Ohio between 1975 and 1979 showed that 71.9% of the intrasex killings between husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends and estranged same, involved a prior history of wife abuse. Critical analysis of literature on violence from all perspectives, biological, psychological, sociological, anthropological and feminist, revealed the linkages of the concepts of machismo and misogyny to both forms of violence against women, homicide and wife abuse, as well as other gynocidal practices. Women were shown to be generally non-violent both in national and cross cultural epidemiological studies on violence and homicide and in the Dayton homicide cases. When they did kill, a significant proportion (49.1%) of the Dayton female killers were motivated by self- defense, as compared to the 8.2% rate of victim precipitation when men killed women. Newspaper accounts of these cases were also analyzed showing some indication of the perpetuation of myths, subtle blaming of the victim, obsession with purity and sexism which is found in the literature on other gynocidal practices. It is suggested that misogyny and machismo grow out of the patriarchal societal structure and that homicide of women along with wife abuse and other practices of violence toward females maintain the patriarchy by keeping women subservient. Abused women were identified as a population highly at risk to kill or be killed and nursing intervention with these women suggested in terms of prevention. iii LIST OF TABLES 1. Homicides by District, Dayton, Ohio, 1974-1979 …… 233 2. City of Dayton Homicide Rates by Year in Comparison with Local Unemployment Percentages and National Homicide rates …… 238 3. Homicide Rates (Per 100,000 Population), Dayton, Ohio and National According to Race and Sex …… 241 4. Summary of Homicide Data, Dayton, Ohio 1968 through 1979 …… 245 5. Homicide Rate Per 100,000, City of Dayton, Ohio 1968 through 1979 …… 247 6. City of Dayton Homicide Data, Age and Race of Female Victims and Offenders …… 248 7. Summary of Homicide Data, City of Dayton, Ohio Homicides Involving Females (1975- 1979) …… 253 8. Dayton, Ohio, Homicide Data, Homicides Involving Females, 1975 through 1979 …… 254 9. Homicide of Children in Dayton, 1975 through 1979 …… 269 10. Homicides of Men and Women without Prior Intimate Relationships …… 270 11. Homicides of Men and Women in Intimate Relationships …… 273 iv DEDICATED TO: Lewis, for all his love, support and help and because he is one who cannot be accused of misogyny, Christy and Brad, who put up with and still love a mainly absent Mommy, Dorothy and Susan, for their love and support, Jo Ann and Peggy, for inspiration and pedagogy, Gert, for providing instigation and the standards to meet, My parents, for teaching me to love myself, Connie, for special help in time of great need, Other family and friends for caring in spite of extreme neglect, And to: Jocelyn, who was killed, Judie, Monica and Julie, who were beaten, And all other women who are in danger and can learn from this study. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE One of the ten national health priorities identified in the National Health Planning and Development Act of 1974 is: "The promotion of activities for the prevention of disease, including studies of nutritional and environmental factors affecting health and the provision of preventive health care services."1 Homicide is defined as "the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.2 In 1971, it was the leading cause of death for black women, age 15-34 and the third highest cause of death for white women, age 15-29.3 In 1973, statistics list homicide as the second leading cause of death in women aged 15-24 years.4 Homicide must therefore be regarded as a major health problem of women which needs further study. It can be viewed as a disease of society which needs to be analyzed in that 1 Joanne Hall and Barbara Weaver, A Systems Approach to Community Health (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1977); p. 12. 2 Marijian Herjanic and David Meyer, "Notes on Epidemiology of Homicide in a Urban Area," Forensic Science 8 (November-December, 1976): 235-245, p. 237. 3 Leonide Martin, Health Care of Women (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1978); pp. 8-11. 4 Juanita Kreps, Social Indicators, 1976 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1977); p. 195. 1 2 context in order to begin to identify the direction that primary prevention should take. Herjanic and Meyer state, "The development of meaningful preventive measures depends on repeated epidemiologic investigations to determine the changes in pattern of crime."1 Therefore, homicide rates over time and associated demographic characteristics of the victim and perpetrator are appropriate objects of evaluation in order to formulate patterns and trends. The patterns of homicide must be studied in conjunction with an analysis of its roots in order to provide a comprehensive paradigm on which to base preventive measures. Highriter calls for nursing research studies to combine descriptive analysis of statistics with theory in order to advance community health nursing science.2 Pilisak and Ober demonstrate the need to view violence in a public health perspective, to conduct "inquiry into the distribution of the malady within the total population and into the facts about the social system that correlate with this incidence."3 The missing element from most classic theories of violence is a thorough analysis of the role of misogyny (hatred of women). In 1977, of the 2,740 female homicide victims nationally, 2,447 of the perpetrators were men.4 During the same year, of 8,565 men murdered, 1,780 of the offenders were women, or in only 21% of the incidents.5 According to the City 1 Herjanic and Meyer, p. 196. 2 Marian Highriter, "The Status of Community Health Nursing," Nursing Research, 26 (May-June, 1977), p. 190. 3 Marc Pilisak and Lyn Ober, "Torture and Genocide as Public Health Problems," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 46 (July, 1976): 388-392, p. 389. 4 William H. Webster, Uniform Crime Reports, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 1977), p. 9. 5 Ibid. 3 of Dayton police reports, from a total of 70 homicides, 11 of the victims were women during the period of January 1, 1977 through December 31, 1977 in Dayton, Ohio. Of these murders of women, ten of the perpetrators were male, one female. (Determined by physical evidence if not arrest and conviction of the murderer). In contrast, of the 59 men killed during that same period, only 13.6% (8) of the perpetrators were women. The predominance of men killing women over women killing men in both local and national statistics cannot be explained solely by attributing the male predilection for violence to a biological tendency toward aggression, because of the cultures where the incidence of violence and homicide is almost nonexistent.1 Instead, there must be a thorough analysis of the factors operating in our culture which leads to violence. The possibility that misogyny is operating when men murder women needs to be considered and explored in a scholarly fashion. This kind of study is responsive to Grayce Sills' call for nursing research that examines "the relationships of sexism, racism, poverty and other forms of deprivation to...health care."2 In order to help determine the extent of misogyny in the Dayton area, the journalism regarding homicides as well as their actual patterns needs to be examined. As Suzanne Pingree asserts, "media constantly provide us with symbolic messages about our cultural environment, ... and relative importance of women and men."3 1 Erich Fromm, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1973), pp. 194-196. 2 Grayce Sills, "Research in the Field of Psychiatric Nursing," Nursing Research, 26 (May- June, 1977): p. 206. 3 Susan Pingree, "A Scale for Sexism," Journal of Communications, 26 (1976): 193-200, p. 198. 4 Susan Brownmiller points out that making the victim seem like she "asked for it" helps to lessen the impact of the crime.1 There is often an obsession with the purity (of its lack) of the victim in newspaper accounts of female homicides.2 When the woman is portrayed as less than pure, the crime is lessened, both in the opinion of patriarchal society and in its courts.3 This obsession with purity is found in the scholarly accounts (written mainly by men) of other male perpetrated gynocidal practices such as the Indian rite of suttee, or widow burning, and witch burning, as well as in newspaper accounts of rape.4 Subtle blaming and obsession with purity of the victim can be seen as part of an overall pattern of misogyny. Historical analysis of the patterns of homicide of women in Dayton, Ohio plus comparisons of national and cross cultural statistics can therefore provide an indication of patterns and trends which may support the inclusion of misogyny as one of the roots of violence in our culture. Examination of the various newspaper accounts related to the Dayton homicides for evidence of sexism, obsession with purity and subtle blaming of the victim will also provide data to determine the presence of misogyny. Finally, a critique of selected theories of violence from all disciplines will provide a holistic background for the study.
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