93-09-29 Husbands Are the Most Likely to be Murdered in American Black Families HUSBANDS ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO BE MURDERED IN AMERICAN BLACK FAMILIES, STUDY CONCLUDES Ms. Plass is no longer at the University of Virginia. She can be reached at (540) 456-4751. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 29 -- Black wives are more likely to kill their husbands than wives of other races are likely to murder their spouses. Deaths of partners account for 77 percent of black family homicides nationwide. The second most likely murder victims in black families are children who are killed by their parents. These are some of the findings of an analysis of homicides in American black families conducted by sociologist Peggy Plass at the University of Virginia. According to FBI statistics, 14 percent of the 20,045 homicide victims in the United States in 1990 were murdered by members of their own families. Of that number, blacks were victimized by their own family members in higher numbers than any other racial group in the United States. Plass is analyzing the data to try to determine why the rates are so high. "The most significant finding is that, contrary to victimization patterns in other racial groups, more black husbands are killed by their spouses than black wives," Plass said. She noted that murdering battering husbands becomes for many women of all races, the only way to escape abusive relationships. "Although this pattern is true in all races, the rates are higher in black households. It appears that black women find it harder to leave battering relationships," said Plass, whose analysis of homicide patterns was recently published in the Journal of Black Studies. Plass believes economics is a major reason that black women stay in abusive relationships. "As a whole, families with economic stress are at a higher risk for violence; black women, who on average have lower incomes than white men, white women or black men, fear leaving abusive relationships because of the difficulty of surviving on their limited incomes," she said. Plass said another reason black women tend to stay in battling relationships may be emotional dependency. She pointed to gender statistics, which show that black women outnumber black men at much earlier ages than whites. "Beginning in their early 20s, black women face a shortage of potential marriage partners. As a result, they may be more likely to `stay too long' in violent relationships because of the relative shortage of other potential partners," she said. "It is interesting to note that black women are more likely to be victims of partner homicide than men before age 30--the same victimization pattern as for white women. However, after age 30, the trend reverses. This reversal supports the idea that black women stay in battering relationships because of the shortage of black men," said Plass, a lecturer in sociology at U.Va. Another factor contributing to the rates of violence in black families may be limited use of community support systems. "Black women tend to see shelters as something run by and for white women," Plass said. Black families also call police to mediate domestic disputes less frequently than white households. One reason for this, according to Plass, may be blacks' perceived racial injustice. She said young children, from birth to four years old, are the most likely to be murdered by their parents. Boys are murdered at approximately one-and-a-half times more frequently than girls of that age. Youths aged 15 -19 are the second most likely to be killed. However, their victimization rate is almost 11 times smaller than the rate for infants, Plass said. In examining data on parent homicides, Plass found that children in black families are more likely to kill their fathers than their mothers. She found that 61 percent of black parents killed by their children were fathers. "This is a remarkable finding when you consider that a large percentage of black children grow up in single-parent, female-headed households." She also found that boys are more likely to commit parent murders in black families than girls. On the other hand, she found that sons are more likely to be killed by their parents in black families than daughters. "Approximately 64 percent of black children killed by a parent are sons," said Plass, who is currently researching national data on accidental deaths of young children. Plass is not repulsed by her examination of such grim statistics. In fact, her work gives her hope. "Looking closely at intra-racial aspects of family homicides suggests things that can be done on a broad social level to address the high rates of lethal violence among blacks," she said. She hopes that knowledge of homicide rates in families can lead to improved domestic violence legislation and more education about how to leave violent relationships. ### September 28, 1993 FOR MORE INFORMATION, Plass can be reached at (804) 924-6515, office, or (804) 296- 7593, home. Karen Castle, Office Services Specialist, University News Office P.O. Box 9018, Booker House, Charlottesville, VA 22906 (804) 924-7116, kac@virginia.edu [Submitted by: Karen A. Castle (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu) Wed, 29 Sep 93 09:22:32 EDT] .