‘‘I Didn’t Know He Had It in Him to Kill Me’’: Non lethal Firearms Use and Partner Violence Against Canadian Women
Main Article Content
Abstract
This qualitative research explored with women the nature and impact of non-lethal firearm-related assaults inflicted on them by their male partners. Forty women from Alberta, Canada described incident(s) in which firearms were central, with 5 contextual themes emerging: (a) threats by partners to commit suicide with firearms(4 women); (b) indirect threats (6 women); (c) explicit threats to harm with a firearm without producing the weapon(11 women); (d) one traumatic incident involving firearms (12 women); and (e) firearm threats or used throughout the relationship (7 women). Practice and policy options are presented for forensic and clinical social workers, shelter workers, and police officers.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
References
Arbuckle, J., Olson, L., Howard, M., Brillman, J., Anctil, C., & Sklar, D. (1996). Safe at home? Domestic violence and other homicides among women in New Mexico. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 27(2), 210-215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70325-6
Bailey, J. E., Kellermann, A. L., Somes, G. W., Banton, J. G., Rivara, F. P., & Rushforth,
N. P. (1995). Risk factors for violent death of women in the home. Archives of Internal Medicine, 157(7), 777-782. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.157.7.777
Bangalore, S. M., & Messerli, F. H. (2013). Gun ownership and firearm-related deaths. The American Journal of Medicine, 126(10), 873-876. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.04.012
Black, B. M., Weisz, A. N., & Bennett, L. W. (2010). Graduating social work students' perspectives on domestic violence. Affilia, 25(2), 173-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109910364824
Brandell, J. R.,& Varkas, T. (2010). Narrative case studies. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods, (2nd ed., pp. 376-396). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781544364902.n20
Brownridge, D. A. (2006). Violence against women post-separation. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(5), 514-530. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2006.01.009
Brzozowski, J. E. (2004). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile 2004. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. Retrieved from: http:// www.canadiancrc.com/PDFs/PHAC_2004_family_violence_profile_e.pdf
Campbell, J. C., Webster, D. W., & Glass, N. (2009). The danger assessment: Validation of a lethality risk assessment instrument for intimate partner femicide. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(4), 653-674. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260508317180
Campbell, J. C., Glass, N., Sharps, P. W., Laughon, K., & Bloom, T. (2007). Intimate partner homicide: Review and implications of research and policy. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 8(3), 247-269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838007303505
Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D., Curry, M. A., Gary, F., Glass, N., ... Laughon, K. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089-1097. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1089
Coleman, H., & Unrau, Y. (1996). Analyzing your data. In L. Tutty, M. Rothery, & R. Grinnell, Jr. (Eds.), Qualitative research for social workers: Phases, steps, & tasks, (pp. 88-119). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Dawson, M. (2005). Intimate femicide followed by suicide: Examining the role of premeditation. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 35(1), 76-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.35.1.76.59261
Dawson, M., Bunge, V. P., & Balde, T. (2009). National trends in intimate partner homicides: Explaining declines in Canada, 1976 to 2001. Violence Against Women, 15(3), 276-306. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801208330433
Fleury, R. E., Sullivan, C. M., & Bybee, D. I. (2000). When ending the relationship does not end the violence: Women's experiences of violence by former partners. Violence Against Women, 6(12), 1363-1383. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10778010022183695
Folkes, S. E. F., Hilton, N. Z., & Harris, G. T. (2012). Weapon use increases the sever- ity of domestic violence but neither weapon use nor firearm access increases the risk or severity of recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(6), 1143-1156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512468232
Frattaroli, S., & Vernick, J. S. (2006). Separating batterers and guns: A review and analysis of gun removal laws in 50 states. Evaluation Review, 30, 296-312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X06287680
Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers. New York, NY: Longman.
Hahn, R. A., Bilukha, O., Crosby, A., Fullilove, M. T., Liberman, A., Moscicki, E., Snyder, S., Tuma, F., & Briss, P. A. (2005). Firearms laws and the reduction of violence: A systematic review. American Journal of Prevention Medicine, 28(2, Suppl. 1), 40-71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2004.10.005
Kernsmith, P., & Craun, S. W. (2008). Predictors of weapon use in domestic violence incidents reported to law enforcement. Journal of Family Violence, 23, 589-596. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9181-8
Johnson, H. (2006). Measuring violence against women: Statistical trends 2006 (Catalogue no. 85-570-XIE). Ottawa, Canada: Minister of Industry. Retrieved from: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/gender/vaw/surveys/Canada/2006_Publication_VAW.pdf
Lee, J., Zhang, Y., & Hoover, L. T. (2013). Profiling weapon use in domestic violence: Multilevel analysis of situational and neighborhood factors. Victims & Offenders: An International Journal of Evidence-based Research, Policy, and Practice, 8(2), 164-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2012.749123
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing qualitative research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McMahon, S., Postmus, J. L., Warrener, C., Plummer, S., & Schwartz, R. (2013). Evaluating the effect of a specialized MSW course on violence against women. Journal of Social Work Education, 49, 301-320. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2013.768484
McPhedran, S., & Mauser, G. (2013). Lethal firearm-related violence against Canadian women: Did tightening gun laws have an impact on women's health and safety? Violence & Victims, 28(5), 875-883. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00145
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Puzone, C. A., Saltzman, L. E., Kresnow, M., Thompson, M. P., & Mercy, J. A. (2000). National trends in intimate partner homicide, United States 1976-1995. Violence Against Women, 6(4), 409-426. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10778010022181912
Roberts, D. W. (2009). Intimate partner homicide: Relationships to alcohol and fire- arms. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 25(1), 67-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986208329771
Sorenson, S. B. (2006). Taking guns from batterers: Public support and policy impli- cations. Evaluation Review, 30(3), 361-373. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X06287217
Sorenson, S. B., & Wiebe, D. J. (2004). Weapons in the lives of battered women. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 1412-1417. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.94.8.1412
Statistics Canada. (2009). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile 2009. Statistics Canada Centre for Justice Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.stat-can.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2009000-eng.htm
Statistics Canada. (2013). Violence against women, 2011. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130225/ dq130225a-eng.pdf
Thorne, S. (2000). Data analysis in qualitative research. Evidence Based Nursing, 3, 68-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/ebn.3.3.68
Tutty, L. M. (2015). Addressing the safety and trauma issues of abused women: A cross-Canada study of YWCA shelters. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 101-116. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss3/8.
Tutty, L. M., Weaver, G., & Rothery, M. A. (1999). Resident's views of the efficacy of shelter services for abused women. Violence Against Women, 5(8), 898-925. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10778019922181545
Tutty, L. M., Ogden, C., Giurgiu, B., & Weaver-Dunlop, G. (2013). I built my house of hope: Abused women and pathways into homelessness. Violence Against Women, 19(12), 1498-1517. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213517514
Vigdor, E. R., & Mercy, J. A. (2006). Do laws restricting access to firearms by domestic violence offenders prevent intimate partner homicide? Evaluation Review, 30, 313-346. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X06287307
Vittes, K. A., Webster, D. W., Frattaroli, S., Claire, B. E., & Wintemute, G. J. (2013). Removing guns from batterers: Findings from a pilot survey of domestic violence restraining order recipients in California. Violence Against Women, 19(5), 602-616. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213490561
Wiebe, D. J. (2003). Homicide and suicide risks associated with firearms in the home: A national case-control study. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 41(6), 771-782. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1067/mem.2003.187
Wilson, M., Johnson, H., & Daly, M. (1995). Lethal and nonlethal violence against wives. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 37(3), 331-361. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/cjcrim.37.3.331