Lethal Violence as a Form of Masculine Conflict Resolution

Abstract

This investigation adds to previous research aimed at isolating patterns of homicide where males predominate as both offenders and victims. The method is exploratory and qualitative in nature, and draws upon case study data available for 376 homicides for the years 1985–89 from coroner's files in Victoria. Thematic analysis identified a scenario where the violence occurs when individuals who know each other reasonably well find themselves caught in a conflict that cannot be resolved through conventional means, with violence becoming a planned device of conflict resolution. In contrast to other masculine scenarios of homicide, the violence is not a spontaneous outgrowth of a fight, or a killing that takes place in the course of other crime, nor is it an attempt to exert control over the behaviour of a sexual partner. There were 41 cases (roughly 10% of all homicides) which fit the elements of this scenario.