A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Domestic Homicide and Emotions from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 1920s (2021)

Kantanen, A., & Eilola, J. (2021). Domestic Homicide and Emotions from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 1920s. In M. Husso, S. Karkulehto, T. Saresma, A. Laitila, J. Eilola, & H. Siltala (Eds.), Violence, Gender and Affect : Interpersonal, Institutional and Ideological Practices (pp. 49-69). Palgrave Macmillan. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56930-3_3

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kantanen, Anna; Eilola, Jari

Parent publication: Violence, Gender and Affect : Interpersonal, Institutional and Ideological Practices

Parent publication editors: Husso, Marita; Karkulehto, Sanna; Saresma, Tuija; Laitila, Aarno; Eilola, Jari; Siltala, Heli

ISBN: 978-3-030-56929-7

eISBN: 978-3-030-56930-3

Journal or series: Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology

Publication year: 2021

Publication date: 22/12/2020

Pages range: 49-69

Number of pages in the book: 292

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Place of Publication: Cham

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56930-3_3

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/81927

Abstract

Some scholars have suggested that a significant change in homicides and interpersonal violence occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This new type of violence was characterised by strong feelings between the offender and their victim, and the change was connected to modernisation, changes in power balance between men and women, and individualism. Based on the Court of Appeal documents, we deduced that the murder of one’s spouse, father, or brother were the most prevalent homicides within families in Finland at the time. The Court documents, in conjunction with newspaper accounts, captured the trend of troubled family relationships and demonstrated that lethal family violence was caused by complex, interconnected factors. Prolonged violence was a major underlying cause of homicides. One of the main characteristics of domestic male-on-male homicides was heated domestic quarrels that escalated to a homicide. We argue that the majority of domestic violence cases exemplify the traditional and persisting forms of family violence, as homicides and severe violence were closely related to questions of household authority or inconsistencies in property disputes. Modernisation did not only intensify these problems but also created new individualised expectations and pressures that could have erupted into homicide in close relationships and resulted in a suicide attempt.

Keywords: homicides; family violence; family life; families; family relations; emotions; modernisation; legal history; social history

Free keywords: domestic homicide; domestic violence; history; Finland; family; emotions

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2021

JUFO rating: 3