Relationship Between Gender Equality and Rates of Inter- and Intra-Sexual Lethal Violence: An Exploration of Functional Form

• NCJ Number: 243651
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2013 Pages: 732-754
• Author(s): Rachel Bridges Whaley; Steven F. Messner; Bonita M. Veysey
• Date Published: August 2013
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the relationship between gender equality (GE) and levels of violence perpetrated by men against women in recent decades.

Abstract

Considerable attention has been given to the relationship between gender equality (GE) and levels of violence perpetrated by men against women in recent decades. Yet, the current state of the literature is equivocal. High levels of GE have been hypothesized to both decrease and increase men's violence. This study proposes a theoretical account that integrates the ameliorative and backlash theses and offers a possible explanation for some of the inconsistent findings. Specifically, the authors argue that both ameliorative and backlash processes operate but that their relative strength and salience vary at different levels of GE. As a result of the interplay between these counter-balancing forces, the relationship between GE and levels of men's violence men against women (and other men) is hypothesized to be curvilinear rather than linear. The results of multivariate analyses of male and female inter- and intra-sexual homicide offending offer robust support for this hypothesis. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.