Women who killed husbands ‘rarely gave a warning,’ and most weren’t abused, study finds [View all]

Conventional wisdom suggests that women usually kill their spouses in self defence or as a final, desperate reaction to chronic battery, the burning-bed syndrome that is sometimes cited as a defence in murder trials. A new Canadian study, however, suggests that barely a quarter of husband-killers are victims of domestic abuse, less than half suffer from any identified psychological problem, and fewer still have had trouble with police.

. . . .


“We’ve got a stereoptye about domestic violence … that the oppressor or perpetrator is the male and when female violence happens, it’s a reaction against male violence,” he said. “The stereotype is so strong, that when you look at the actual data, you’re shocked.”

Prof. Dutton, author of the book Rethinking Domestic Violence, suggested that such assumptions evolved from the feminist view that family violence was a socio-political act of “patriarchal men suppressing women.” He argues instead that personality disorders in both male and female offenders better explain family violence than do social norms.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/03/women-rarely-gave-a-warning-before-killing-their-mates-and-most-didnt-suffer-abuse-study-finds/

Whenever a man kills his wife the reactions are predictable: abusive asshole, string him up!

Whenever a woman kills her husband the reactions are equally predictable: he must have been an abusive asshole, he deserved it. Self-defense!

It would seem the reality does not match the stereotypes yet again. Some match that description. But far from the majority. Certainly not enough to justify the lockstep response from so many.

/I do hope Prof. Dutton has tenure otherwise. Otherwise things could get . . . difficult for him.