MSc in Forensic Medical Sciences Homicide-Suicide: Epidemiology, Characteristics, Psychology and Prevention in Society

The dissertation is set out to understand the situations surrounding homicide-suicide events around the world through published articles. It evaluates and defines the characteristics of a typical homicide-suicide event along with its different types, all falling into the same outcome; death of a victim followed by death of the perpetrator who committed the crime. The methods and approach used by various authors around the world have been challenged. The absence of seriousness of various governmental agencies pertaining to the tragic event has been seen through the inaccurate availability of data. Most of the countries that have been evaluated in this study have a homicidal and suicidal surveillance commission that record homicidal and suicidal deaths, but following up a dyadic death is difficult. There are countries that do not have surveillance agencies to record these events and therefore studies of such events were dependent upon reports obtained via newspaper agencies. Homicide-suicide events are tragic and devastating, not just for those who face its wrath, but even their surroundings such as those that have been familiar with the victim(s) and the perpetrator; relatives and friends, eye witnesses etc. who are affected mentally lifelong. This dissertation sets out to understand dyadic deaths through its characteristics, motives, reasons, weapons/methods used to carry out the event and changes seen over the years. Measures that can be taken by governmental agencies for its prevention by support, intervention and monitoring has been noted under the conclusion section of this dissertation with a hope that implementation of these measures may reduce these tragic events significantly. Published articles involving the following countries: U.S.A., England and Wales, India, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Fiji, has been evaluated for their methodology and statistical results to underline the situation the world and its citizens face. According to all authors homicide-suicide events are rare; this is due to the low incident rates. Comparing these deaths to statistical data for all deaths, yes it is rare, but when such incidents are bound to happen that to yearly with increasing trends, then it is not something that can or should be overlooked. An interesting result of the research was the involvement of relationship of the victim and the perpetrator in such events, maximum of the victim(s) and perpetrators knew or were related to each other indicating the domestic nature of the event. Most of the perpetrators were male, while most of the victims were women and children. The motives or reasons for the event are many such as spousal conflicts, financial problems, disputes, jealousy etc., but they all lead back to the brain indicating the psychological involvement that allows an individual to carry out the event. Another interesting result is the method that perpetrators use to carry out the homicide and suicide. What was found in this dissertation is that most of the methods used involved techniques that would not cause a lot of suffering and are easily available; indicating the love the perpetrator has for the victim. There are techniques also used in cases of jealousy and disputes, where importance is given towards the suffering of the victim(s) indicating the level of aggressiveness of the perpetrators. Apparent reasons for suicide by the perpetrator are given as guilt, altruistic or fear of facing the consequences. Out of the 11 countries, there were 7 countries where the method mostly employed for both the homicide and suicide were with the help of firearms. This clearly indicates the availability of firearms within these countries, while countries that have restricted or limited the use of firearms faced methods such as drowning, strangulation, burning, hanging, knife chopping and carbon monoxide poisoning. Carrying out research not just state wise but country wise with the development of surveillance agencies to monitor and evaluate dyadic deaths will help find the root cause of the problem, which would allow the government to intervene and prevent such incidents to occur in future. Details of the characteristics of population may be valuable for understanding the circumstances of homicide-suicide incidents and planning preventive measures. The most important fact is that homicide-suicides, as in most countries, involve almost exclusively men killing their female intimate partners confirms the importance of examining and challenging social norms that enable male violence against women.