A Transdisciplinary Analysis of Domestic Violence Homicides in Harris County, Texas (2016-2020)

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10887679231182331
• Author: Hsiu-Fen Lin,Kathryn J. Spearman,Jennifer L. Ross,Emily Blackburn,Jill T. Messing,Jacquelyn C. Campbell,Millan A. AbiNader,Kevin J. Grimm
• Date: 01 November 2023
• Subject Matter: Special Issue Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679231182331

Homicide Studies

2023, Vol. 27(4) 472 –492

© 2023 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/10887679231182331

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Special Issue Article

A Transdisciplinary Analysis of

Domestic Violence Homicides

in Harris County, Texas

(2016-2020)

Hsiu-Fen Lin1, Kathryn J. Spearman2,

Jennifer L. Ross3, Emily Blackburn4,

Jill T. Messing5, Jacquelyn C. Campbell2,

Millan A. AbiNader6, and Kevin J. Grimm7

Abstract

A transdisciplinary, community-engaged approach enables researchers to connect

knowledge generation with domestic violence homicide prevention. This case study

utilizes medical examiner data from Harris County, Texas (2016–2020, n = 2,517) to

identify and examine correlates of domestic violence homicides. The research team

identified more than double the number of domestic violence homicides than had

been flagged in the original data. Geospatial analysis identified unequal distribution

of homicide across communities and significant gender-based disparities in domestic

violence homicides. Transdisciplinary approaches can be used to accurately identify

domestic violence homicides and provide a foundation to develop multi-level

interventions.

Keywords

intimate partner violence, intimate partner violence-related homicide, familicide, the

prevalence rate

1University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

2John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

3Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Houston, TX, USA

4University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA

5Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA

6University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

7Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

Corresponding Author:

Hsiu-Fen Lin, School of Social Work, Violence Against Women Cluster, University of Central Florida,

12805 Pegasus Drive, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.

Email: hsiufen.lin@ucf.edu

1182331HSXXXX10.1177/10887679231182331Homicide StudiesLin et al.

research-article2023

Lin et al. 473

In the United States, domestic violence homicides—murders perpetrated by intimate

partners or family members—are a pervasive problem accounting for at least one in

five homicides (Wilson et al., 2022). Domestic violence homicide causes loss of life,

trauma for survivors and witnesses, and economic burden, and can also be a threat to

public safety (Geller et al., 2021; Wilson et al., 2023). This preventable, complex epi-

demiological problem requires researchers to look beyond the silos of their own disci-

plines and explore team-based approaches to identify solutions (Mitchell, 2005).

Research on domestic violence homicides has focused primarily on intimate part-

ner homicides (IPH), which are perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner,

generally in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) (J. C. Campbell et al.,

2003). IPV is prevalent in the United States, with one in three women and one in four

men subjected to severe physical violence from their partners during their lifetimes

(Leemis et al., 2022). IPH disproportionately impacts women as a leading cause of

mortality for reproductive-aged women (Fridel & Fox, 2019; Wilson et al., 2022).

IPV can also result in the deaths of corollary victims including children, other fam-

ily members, neighbors, and community members; these types of domestic violence

homicides are classified as IPV-related homicides. Children are disproportionately

killed in IPV-related homicides (Wilson et al., 2023), yet the proportion of children

killed in IPV-related homicides has been historically underestimated (Adhia et al.,

2019). Familial homicide not precipitated by IPV is a homicide that occurs in domestic

or familial relationships that are not intimate partner relationships or are not associated

with IPV. For example, familial homicides include fatal child maltreatment deaths that

are not related to adult IPV.

IPH, IPV-related homicides, and familial homicides are commonly classified by

medical examiners and law enforcement as “domestic violence homicides.” Yet, the

differences between these homicides, and where the boundaries of these classifica-

tions are drawn, have important implications for understanding risk and for prevention

efforts in research, practice, and policy (Fairbairn et al., 2017). Most research (1999–

2020) has focused on IPH (about half of the published articles) and the killing of

children (about one-quarter of published articles) (Truong et al., 2023). Other forms of

domestic violence homicide are understudied, including IPV-related homicides of cor-

ollary victims (S. G. Smith et al., 2014).

Significant disparities in domestic violence homicide exist across demographic and

geographic lines. Domestic violence homicides disproportionately affect young peo-

ple with disparities noted across individual-level factors such as gender, age, race/

ethnicity, physical characteristics, or disabilities (Truong et al., 2023). Women are also

more at risk of being killed in a familial homicide as compared to men, particularly

non-Hispanic black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and immigrant women (J. C. Campbell

et al., 2003; Fridel & Fox, 2019; Petrosky et al., 2020; Sabri et al., 2021; E. L. Smith,

2022; Truong et al., 2023). The unequal distribution of risk based on individual char-

acteristics such as race and gender are rooted in historical and structural contexts of

racism and sexism (Messing et al., 2022).

Well-established perpetrator-level risk factors for domestic violence homicides

include firearm ownership and access, history of mental health concerns or perpetrator