NCJ Number
168554
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: special issue (1996) Pages: 396-411
Date Published
1996
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article explores the relationship between masculinity and violence through an examination of case studies of child homicides committed by men in Victoria, Australia between 1985 and 1994.
Abstract
The findings reveal a diversity of violent scenarios and a complexity in masculinity and its relationship to violence. They challenge the adequacy of universalistic representations of male violence as either an instrumental act, a means of accomplishing masculinity, or as an unpremeditated emotional act of rage and anger in response to a threat. In particular, the scenarios reveal both the complex and sometimes contradictory expectations of masculinity and the ways in which they are achieved differently in different situations. The diversity of the violent scenarios and of the masculinities they reveal is the major thrust of these findings. It is also important to remember that: these are crimes committed by men; some forms of child homicide are distinctly male crimes; cross cultures violence is predominantly male behavior; and growing awareness of the complexity of masculinity and the relationships to violence should not obscure more universalistic analyses. References