One Size Doesn’t Fit All: An Exploratory Typological Approach to Understanding Criminal Career Heterogeneity in Intimate Partner Homicide

• Published date: 01 November 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241257604
• Author: Olivier Péloquin,Julien Chopin,Francis Fortin,Jean-Pierre Guay,Eric Chartrand,Sarah Paquette
• Date: 01 November 2024

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2024, Vol. 51, No. 11, November 2024, 1734 –1754.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241257604

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2024 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1734

ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL

An Exploratory Typological Approach to

Understanding Criminal Career Heterogeneity in

Intimate Partner Homicide

OLIVIER PÉLOQUIN

University of Montreal

JULIEN CHOPIN

University of Lausanne

Simon Fraser University

Laval University

FRANCIS FORTIN

JEAN-PIERRE GUAY

University of Montreal

ERIC CHARTRAND

Sûreté du Québec

SARAH PAQUETTE

University of Portsmouth

Approximately one in seven homicides globally is committed by a partner within an intimate relationship. While criminology

research on intimate partner homicide (IPH) perpetrators is extensive, their interactions with law enforcement remain under-

explored. This study examines the criminal trajectories of IPH perpetrators to ascertain whether they exhibit common or

diverse patterns. Utilizing data from Quebec’s official criminal events database, the study analyzes variables concerning the

criminal histories of 1,780 individuals involved in attempted or completed IPH through latent profile analysis. Findings

indicate five distinct profiles among IPH perpetrators: one-time, low-volume intimate partner violence (IPV), moderate-

volume IPV, high-volume violence, and high-volume polymorphous perpetrators. The external validity of these profiles is

assessed using additional criminal career, contextual, and situational variables. Implications for the justice system’s practices

and challenges are also discussed.

Keywords: intimate partner homicide; criminal career; latent profile analysis; heterogeneity; trajectories

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

(SSHRC)—Insight Development Grants—[#430-2022-0036]. Correspondence concerning this article should

be addressed to Julien Chopin, School of Criminal Justice, University of Lausanne, 1016 Lausanne,

Switzerland; e-mail: julien.chopin@unil.ch.

1257604CJBXXX10.1177/00938548241257604Criminal Justice and BehaviorPéloquin et al. / Criminal Career Heterogeneity in IPH

research-article2024

Péloquin et al. / CRIMINAL CAREER HETEROGENEITY IN IPH 1735

INTRODUCTION

In 2018, an intimate partner was found responsible for one out of every five solved homi-

cides in Canada (Roy & Marcellus, 2019). In the same year, police organizations reported

1,060 homicides or attempted homicides between intimate partners (Conroy et al., 2019).

Homicide is the most severe crime in the Canadian Criminal Code and more specifically,

intimate partner homicide (IPH), can be associated with the suicide of the perpetrator as well

as the deaths of children or other family members. Any homicide poses a significant cost to

society: In 2014, homicide cost the Canadian Justice System, on average, US$371,514.25

per case (Gabor, 2015). Despite solid groundwork by researchers, much work remains to be

done to better understand IPH perpetrators. Only a few studies have used a typological

approach to consider heterogeneity in the criminal careers of individuals who commit IPH

(Dixon et al., 2008; Kivisto, 2015; Vignola-Lévesque & Léveillée, 2021). These previous

studies, while suggesting that there are different categories of IPH perpetrators, are limited

by the nature of the data used: Researchers were mainly interested in the psychological

aspects of IPH perpetrators, and their samples were therefore drawn from forensic psychia-

try. Beyond the obvious problem of sample size, these studies examined only IPH perpetra-

tors who presented with mental disorders and required psychological intervention. This

limitation has created a significant knowledge gap for police attempting to understand IPH

perpetrators with a criminal trajectory lens, as no previous study has looked at IPH perpetra-

tors in terms of other criminal activities. The study of criminal careers, an important area of

criminological research, makes it possible to better understand and predict criminal recidi-

vism (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). A wealth of evidence from studies using represen-

tative official data of the criminal careers of those involved in intimate partner violence

(intimate partner violence perpetrators) strongly shows that incidences of physical violence

involving a partner often occur more than once, rather than one-off, (Hilton & Eke, 2016;

Tanskanen & Aaltonen, 2022) and that two-thirds of IPVO had a criminal career prior to

committing their first act of intimate partner violence (Hilton & Eke, 2016).

The issue of IPH has received very little attention and, while general trends suggest that

perpetrators who kill their partners have longer criminal careers than perpetrators whose

attacks do not lead to death (Campbell et al., 2017; Dobash et al., 2004; Eriksson et al.,

2019), determining the validity of this view requires a better understanding of how the crimi-

nal careers of those involved in IPH are organized and articulated. Also, most of the time,

official judicial system data is the sole known reference point for an individual prior to inter-

vention by law enforcement agencies, who often serve as a first-line response in many cases.

Hence, it is crucial to endeavor to discern the diverse criminal career trajectories that culmi-

nate in IPH because it helps identify intervention points and risk factors across an individu-

al’s life that could lead to IPH. Understanding these trajectories allows for the development

of specific prevention strategies and contributes to a deeper theoretical understanding of IPH

by considering the longitudinal interplay of life experiences and criminal behavior. This

approach not only aids in crafting evidence-based interventions but also enhances our theo-

retical models, providing a comprehensive view of the factors contributing to IPH. Ultimately,

this perspective is vital for developing proactive and holistic approaches to prevent intimate

partner violence and homicide. Consequently, this study examines the criminal career pat-

terns of individuals involved in IPH (both attempted and completed) to determine if the paths

associated with IPH are homogeneous or heterogeneous.