Thursday, April 23, 2009

Expert Warns Of More Familicides

An expert on domestic violence says the country should brace for more tragedies like the two recent murder suicide cases in Maryland.

Dr. Richard Gelles says familicides, where a husband kills his family then himself, are prime indicators of a coming surge in domestic violence and child abuse.

Gelles is Dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gelles says such cases can be directly tied to the economy.

He says most of the men who commit the crimes are white males between the ages of 30 and 60 that have recently lost jobs or suffered a significant drop in income.

Gelles says the men are so enmeshed in their families and ashamed they can no longer afford their lifestyle that they kill their families.

Gelles is urging those responsible for the social safety net in this country to shore up domestic violence shelters and emergency rooms.

When asked how you prevent such crimes, Gelles said you can't.

via Expert Warns Of More Familicides - Baltimore News, Weather, Breaking News | WMAR-TV.

1 comment:

Life’ll Kill Ya « Glaring Health Code Violations said...

[...] But hey, credit where credit is due - Hayden didn’t actually hurt anyone. That’s more than can be said for way too many people recently, and with the economy finally seeming to settle to the bottom, the recent and tragic string of familicides is probably going to get worse before it gets better. [...]