Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Am J Prev Med. 2019 Jan;56(1):38-46. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.08.028. Epub 2018 Nov 8.
Child victims physically harmed in intimate partner violence incidents are understudied. The U.S. National Violent Death Reporting System abstractors can identify intimate partner violence-related child homicides in part through descriptive narratives from coroner/medical examiner and law enforcement reports. This study characterizes these homicides and assesses how well the coded and narrative data within the National Violent Death Reporting System align in identifying intimate partner violence-related child homicides.
This study examines homicides of children ages 2-14 years from 16 states for 2005-2014. An existing variable purportedly indicates intimate partner violence-related child homicides where the perpetrator also kills or attempts to kill the intimate partner (Type 1) or intimate partner conflict (e.g., divorce, separation, custody) precedes the homicide (Type 2). The authors read all narratives in 2018 to assess whether the death was intimate partner violence-related and compared this classification to that coded by the National Violent Death Reporting System abstractor.
Of 1,386 child homicide victims, 144 (10.4%) were coded in the National Violent Death Reporting System as intimate partner violence-related. However, from the narratives, an additional 138 were classified as intimate partner violence-related, identifying a total of 280 (20.2%) victims. Of the 280 victims, 54.3% were killed in Type 1 incidents. Compared with other perpetrators of child homicides, intimate partner violence-related perpetrators were more likely to be white, use a firearm, and die by suicide. Type 2 incidents were more likely than Type 1 to be homicide-suicides.
The National Violent Death Reporting System currently understates intimate partner violence-related child homicide cases. Many cases involve immediate intimate partner conflict, suggesting the need for services to help people cope before conflicts lead to deadly incidents. Primary prevention of intimate partner violence may have survival benefits for children.
在亲密伴侣暴力事件中身体受到伤害的儿童受害者研究不足。美国国家暴力死亡报告系统的摘要撰写者可以通过验尸官/法医和执法报告中的描述性叙述部分识别与亲密伴侣暴力相关的儿童杀人案。本研究描述了这些杀人案，并评估了国家暴力死亡报告系统中的编码和叙述数据在识别与亲密伴侣暴力相关的儿童杀人案方面的一致性。
本研究检查了 2005 年至 2014 年来自 16 个州的 2-14 岁儿童的杀人案。一个现有的变量据称可以指示与亲密伴侣暴力相关的儿童杀人案，其中犯罪者还杀害或试图杀害亲密伴侣（1 型）或亲密伴侣冲突（例如离婚、分居、监护权）先于杀人案（2 型）。作者在 2018 年阅读了所有的叙述，以评估死亡是否与亲密伴侣暴力有关，并将这种分类与国家暴力死亡报告系统摘要撰写者的编码进行了比较。
在 1386 名儿童杀人案受害者中，有 144 名（10.4%）在国家暴力死亡报告系统中被编码为与亲密伴侣暴力有关。然而，从叙述中，又有 138 名被归类为与亲密伴侣暴力有关，总共确定了 280 名（20.2%）受害者。在 280 名受害者中，54.3%的人死于 1 型事件。与其他儿童杀人案的犯罪者相比，与亲密伴侣暴力有关的犯罪者更有可能是白人，使用枪支，并自杀身亡。2 型事件比 1 型事件更有可能是杀人自杀事件。
国家暴力死亡报告系统目前低估了与亲密伴侣暴力有关的儿童杀人案。许多案件涉及即时的亲密伴侣冲突，这表明需要提供服务，帮助人们在冲突导致致命事件之前进行应对。亲密伴侣暴力的一级预防可能对儿童有生存益处。
