Analysis of Research Report Paper
HCS/438

Analysis of Research Report Paper

Spousal homicide is a very serious issue facing society today. Rising as one of the most predominate reasons for murder, spousal homicide is an issue with more statistics available than most homicide related deaths.
In the study, “Spousal Homicide Risk and Endangerment”, multiple statistical procedures are used to identify such things as rate between genders, rate in area, etc. For one, the study mentions a collection of data on perpetrators of spousal homicide in Sweden over a nine year period between 1990 and 1999, compared to pure homicide in Sweden in the same time frame. By using this statistical gather procedure, they were able to determine that homicide in Sweden was four times more likely among married people as compared to unmarried people. What’s more, they found that 80% of the perpetrators in the spousal homicide cases had some type of mental disorder, clearly indicative of possible violence against their partner, and may not have been caught as a statistic if not for the collection of data for spousal homicide.
Another procedure used in this study was a gender ratio statistic. What they found was that out of 276 spousal homicides between 1991 and 2010, 234 of those were committed by a man, as opposed to 42 by the female. This was a study in Quebec, they also did a companion statistic that found only 28% of the females who murdered their husbands had been previously abused in the relationship. That was a huge statistical find. Previously it was believed husbands who had been murdered was for abusing their wife.
The study has numerous charts and graphs to help illustrate its point on spousal homicide, including co-residing and estranged couples, and ages most of the statistics one would try to think of when making a study on such a subject. By studying various decades and lifestyles, statistical procedure puts together a painting of this subject, and makes it clearer angles involved to get a better grasp on spousal homicide.
The conclusion states that husbands are many times more likely to murder their wives than the other way around. The study states that men in this state would not just murder, but follow and chase down the wife to kill. “If I can’t have her, no one can” being the typical response. The husband abuse on women and their willingness to accept it and not seek help must be addressed by the public, and allow women to feel safe in such a move. But, it also states that women themselves, though outnumbered, in terms of times committed these crimes, rarely kill their husbands as a reaction to being abused in their relationship. This creates an interesting dynamic between the statistics for this case, so concluding that only females should be careful when it comes to this situation, maybe it is the male also. While the wife is much more likely to be killed, the husband will often not even know that the wife would be able and willing to commit the act, with no warning.
These findings are statistically significant because they encompass an important issue and over different periods ranging for years to decades. And because of all the different types of statistics used, from gender, age, where they live, etc., they were able to create a concrete finding on the subject, a big enough viewpoint that reading it could be enlightening for some. By including graphs and charts to represent the findings, it can help visual learners, and put a scope to the findings, for people who find numbers to be just numbers. It also creates a more compact way to represent the finding, so that you can visualize it all at once, and not skim past a finding that is relevant. This conclusion was reached by reading the study and by matching the information given and with the give examples and by observing how they came to their conclusions. Everything was relevant to the topic, and provides new insight to spousal homicide, but also changed certain views on it, such as how women may not always be the victim as the media has portrayed them to be. More statistical information on this subject would be invaluable.

References Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1993, Summer). Spousal Homicide Risk and Endangerment. Violence and Victims, 8(1).

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