Intimate partner homicide: a review of the male proprietariness and the self-defense theories

In recent years, more attention has been focused on domestic violence. The focus of this article is on the most serious aspect of domestic violence, intimate partner homicide. Although both men and women kill their intimate partners, it appears that differences exist in the motivation behind the homicide in both cases. The male proprietariness theory and the self-defense theory are presented as a means of understanding the gender differences in spousal homicide. These theories suggest that dynamics of the relationship play an important role in the increasing violence, which eventually results in homicide in certain instances. The implications of these theories are presented as a means of reducing the number of domestic homicides. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Ltd.