Examining Trends in Domestic Violence Homicides in Oklahoma from 2010- 2014

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Examining Trends in Domestic Violence Homicides in Oklahoma from 2010- 2014 INTIMATE AND FAMILIAL MURDER: EXAMINING TRENDS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOMICIDES IN OKLAHOMA FROM 2010-2014 By ASHLEY E. LAMOTHE Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology The University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 2013 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE July, 2016 INTIMATE AND FAMILIAL MURDER: EXAMINING TRENDS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOMICIDES IN OKLAHOMA FROM 2010-2014 Thesis Approved: Dr. Ron Thrasher Thesis Adviser Dr. Robert Allen Dr. Mark Payton ii Name: ASHLEY LAMOTHE Date of Degree: JULY, 2016 Title of Study: INTIMATE AND FAMILIAL MURDER: EXAMINING TRENDS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOMICIDES IN OKLAHOMA FROM 2010- 2014 Major Field: FORENSIC SCIENCES Abstract: Domestic violence homicides, particularly involving intimate partners, have been the subject of research for many decades. What has been lacking in the literature, however, is an in-depth comparison of the many types of relationships that fall under the umbrella definition for domestic violence. Such relationships include parents, siblings, grandparents, and other family members, as well as roommates. This study focuses on the trends and characteristics of the domestic violence homicides that occurred in the state of Oklahoma from January 2010 through December 2014. A total of 1318 homicides were reviewed and 368 were determined to meet the definition of domestic violence homicide. For this study, domestic violence is defined by Title 22 of the Oklahoma State Statutes in the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. For each domestic violence case, several pieces of information were collected. Data collected were: demographics of the victim and offender, relationship between victim and offender, the mechanism of injury that caused the death, the number of injuries to the victim, drug or alcohol use by either the victim or offender, and the county where the death occurred. The collected variables were then analyzed using 2-way contingency tables and Pearson’s chi-square to test significant associations between the variables. Significant association were found between: offender type and the sex of the offender, offender type and sex of the victim, offender type and race of the offender, race of the offender and mechanism of injury, offender’s age and mechanism of injury, offender type and mechanism of injury, offender type and number of injuries to the victim, mechanism of injury and sex of the victim, mechanism of injury and race of the victim, mechanism of injury and age of the victim, offender type and drug and/or alcohol use of the victim or offender, and mechanism of injury and drug and/or alcohol use of the victim or offender. The conclusions in this study do not match those reported in recent studies on national data in aspects concerning mechanism of injury and perpetrator types. Furthermore, this study illustrates the prevalence of family homicides despite their exclusion from the literature on domestic violence. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................................6 Definition and Categories of Domestic Violence ....................................................7 Intimate Partner Homicide ..................................................................................8 Child Homicide .................................................................................................10 Parricide ............................................................................................................12 Siblicide ............................................................................................................14 Domestic Violence Statistics .................................................................................16 National Data ....................................................................................................16 Oklahoma Data .................................................................................................16 Situational Factors .................................................................................................18 Demographics, Relationship, and Drug/Alcohol Use .......................................18 Mechanism of Injury .........................................................................................19 Summary of Literature Review............................................................................. .20 III. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................21 Data Collection ......................................................................................................22 Creating a Workable Spreadsheet .....................................................................22 Recording Decedent Demographics .................................................................23 Determining Domestic or Non-Domestic Homicides .......................................24 Identifying Cause of Death ...............................................................................25 Documenting Number of Injuries .....................................................................26 Recording Offender Demographics ..................................................................26 Reviewing Toxicology Reports ........................................................................26 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................27 Obtaining Frequencies and Redefining Variables ............................................27 Creating the Contingency Tables ......................................................................30 Summary of Methods .............................................................................................30 iv Chapter Page IV. FINDINGS .............................................................................................................32 Breakdown of Total Results ...................................................................................32 Domestic vs. Non-Domestic Homicides ...........................................................32 Demographics for Domestic Violence Homicides ...........................................35 Relationship between Victim and Offender ......................................................37 Drug and/or Alcohol Use by Victim or Offender .............................................38 Analyses of Relationship between Victim and Offender .......................................38 Association between Sex and Offender Type ...................................................38 Association between Race and Offender Type .................................................39 Analyses of Mechanism of Injury Characteristics .................................................40 Association between Mechanism of Injury and Offender Characteristics ........40 Association between Mechanism of Injury and Victim Characteristics ...........42 Analyses of Drug and/or Alcohol Use ...................................................................43 Locations of Domestic Violence Homicides in Oklahoma ....................................44 V. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................46 Comparison to Results from Prior Research ..........................................................46 Intimate Partner Homicide ................................................................................47 Child Homicide .................................................................................................47 Parricide ............................................................................................................48 Siblicide ............................................................................................................48 Mechanism of Injury .........................................................................................48 Limitations of Current Study .................................................................................49 Future Investigations ..............................................................................................50 Summary ................................................................................................................51 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................52 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................56 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1- Domestic Violence Relationship by Offender Type..............................................25 2- Original Classifications of Offender Types….......................................................28 3- Redefined Classifications of Offender Types........................................................28 4- Original Classifications of Mechanisms of Injury.................................................29 5- Redefined Classifications of Mechanisms of Injury..............................................29 6- Five Year Frequency of Homicides........................................................................33 7- Ages of Victims in Domestic and Non-Domestic Homicides................................35 8- Offender Type Frequencies....................................................................................37
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