Abstract
Aims and methodTo explore the portrayal of homicide-suicide in newspaper articles, particularly how mental illness was reported. We carried out a qualitative study in England and Wales (2006-2008). Data from newspaper articles obtained via the LexisNexis database were used to examine a consecutive series of 60 cases.ResultsA fascination with extreme violence, vulnerable victims and having someone to blame made homicide-suicides newsworthy. Some offenders were portrayed in a stereotypical manner and pejorative language was used to describe mental illness. The findings showed evidence of inaccurate and speculative reference to mental disorder in newspaper reports.Clinical implicationsThe media should avoid speculation on people's mental state. Accurate reporting is essential to reduce stigma of mental illness, which may in turn encourage people to seek help if they experience similar emotional distress.
Highlights
We aimed to explore how UK newspapers reported incidents of homicide-suicide and how mental illness was reported in relation to these cases
The findings presented are from a larger, mixed-method study of homicide-suicide undertaken by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH)
We found that homicide-suicides were highly newsworthy, with 90% reported in national and local newspapers, an average of 22 articles per incident
Summary
Over a 3-year period (2006-2008), 60 incidents of homicide-suicide were identified in England and Wales. Offender (n = 60) Median age, years (range): 44 (18-85) Gender: male Black and minority ethnic group History of mental illness from medical records. Fascination with extreme violence and personal tragedy Tabloid newspapers exhibited a fascination with the level of violence involved in the incident More often this referred to the violence against the victim in the homicide rather than the suicide. We found the majority of the homicide-suicide incidents involving people with a history of mental illness were reported responsibly and newspapers did not stigmatise the offender. In addition to the speculation regarding diagnoses, reporters often seemed to select quotations from witnesses that provided a default assumption of mental illness when there was seemingly no other plausible explanation They referred to the offender having ‘cracked’, ‘snapped’, ‘flipped’ or ‘gone berserk’. These terms appear in direct quotations from witnesses who knew the offender, the words imply the offender had experienced a mental health crisis at the time of the offence, yet no supporting evidence was provided to substantiate this
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