User:U3160212/sandbox

Overview
Homicide, the act of one human killing another is illegal in most countries around the world and for a good reason, yet homicides still occur each day. It is a violent and tragic act, leaving behind a path of destruction that devastates families and communities. One major issue is homicides occurring between family members, such as intimate partners or involving children or parents. For example, in the United States (U.S) in 2008 around 45% of female and 5% of male homicides were committed by an intimate partner (Stöckl et al., 2013). One only has to turn on the news or read a newspaper to see the tragedies that occur within families each day, and one of the biggest questions that both researchers and the public ask is 'why.' Why does this happen and what motivates someone to kill members of their own family?

Many researchers have studied homicide between family members, and what drives people to do it remains a topic of importance as risk factors need to be identified to stop these tragedies from occurring. This book chapter specifically explores various motivations that have been identified for both intimate partner homicide (IPH) and familicide, and discusses relevant psychological theories that help explain why people commit these acts. Firstly, IPH is explored, followed by familicide. Focus questions
 * How prevalent is IPH and what motivates someone to commit this act?
 * Who commits familicide and what motivates them to do it?
 * What psychological theories can help explain the motivations for these acts?