Domestic Homicide: Examining the Role of Male Perpetrator Suicidality

Male perpetrator depression and suicidality has been shown to be associated with domestic homicide perpetration. The association between suicidality and domestic homicide perpetration may be particularly strong in the context of coercive control. While aspects of male perpetrator suicidality have been linked to coercive control, there are also other documented reasons for male perpetrator suicidality in domestic violence contexts (e.g., relational disruption, maladaptive coping mechanisms). Given that some scattered research has revealed relationships amongst coercive control, male perpetrator suicidality, and domestic homicide, further research should continue to explore these relationships and also explore the degree to which non-coercive and coercive narratives are situated within accounts of male perpetrator suicidality. A two-study mixed-methods approach was taken to achieve this. Study 1 quantitatively examined the link between coercive control and suicidality by analyzing 16 years of data from Ontario’s Domestic Violence Death Review Committee. Results demonstrate high rates of homicide-suicide, prior threats of suicide, and prior suicide attempts in perpetrators of domestic homicide. Results also outline differential relationships between each of the three aforementioned aspects of suicidality with coercive control and with non-coercive risk. Study 2 qualitatively explored female survivors’ and the bereaved’s construals of male perpetrator suicidality within their broader experiences of domestic homicide and domestic violence. Reflexive thematic analysis was completed with in depth interviews with 13 survivors and 2 proxies. Dominant themes were generated in the form of three dimensions, which outline how male perpetrator suicidality was situated within narratives of coercive control and within narratives of male depression and poor mental health across various contexts and times. Results across both studies highlight the relevance of male perpetrator suicidality in the context of domestic homicide and domestic violence. Both studies also demonstrated how one important way of understanding male perpetrator threats of suicide is as one tactic of coercive control. Put together, these key learnings have critical implications for violence risk assessment, suicide risk assessment of men, and the treatment of violent men. These implications and future directions for preventing and ending domestic homicide are discussed.

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