Domestic abuse: Killers 'follow eight-stage pattern', study says

[elaine567]

Criminology expert Dr Jane Monckton Smith found an eight-stage pattern in 372 killings in the UK.

The eight steps she discovered in almost every killing were:

 

1. A pre-relationship history of stalking or abuse by the perpetrator
   
2. The romance developing quickly into a serious relationship
   
3. The relationship becoming dominated by coercive control
   
4. A trigger to threaten the perpetrator's control - for example, the relationship ends or the perpetrator gets into financial difficulty
   
5. Escalation - an increase in the intensity or frequency of the partner's control tactics, such as by stalking or threatening suicide
   
6. The perpetrator has a change in thinking - choosing to move on, either through revenge or by homicide
   
7. Planning - the perpetrator might buy weapons or seek opportunities to get the victim alone
   
8. Homicide - the perpetrator kills his or her partner, and possibly hurts others such as the victim's children
   

 

"The only instance where a stage in the model was not followed was when men did not meet stage one - but this was normally because they had not had a relationship before,"

"We've been relying on the 'crime of passion, spontaneous red-mist' explanation [of killing] forever - and it's just not true", Dr Monckton Smith (said)"

 

Read more here.

[spiderowl]

Thank you for posting that, Elaine. It's fascinating stuff, particularly the 'moving on' stage where it probably appears to outsiders that the threat is over.

[Foxhall]

For someone getting involved with a single mother, would this be a worry,

 

the jealous ex-husband, either being a threat to her or the new guy she has taken up with.

 

no history of previous abuse, however the ex-husband is known to be a fiery type who is still very much involved in her life.

[elaine567]

This is a good diagram to explain coercive control, which appears to be at the heart of the issue.