Intimate partner homicide-suicide: The role of media in depicting life-ending events, along with an analysis of the prevalence and geographic distribution of these events

Homicide followed by suicide is a relatively rare event in which one individual kills another and subsequently dies by suicide, usually shortly after the homicide (Barraclough & Harris, 2002). Intimate Partner Homicide-Suicide (also IPH-S and Murder-Suicide) occurs when a person kills an intimate partner---a current or former romantic partner or family member---and then kills him or herself. The goals of this proposal and subsequent dissertation are to determine the quality and accuracy of the media coverage of intimate partner homicide-suicide, along with identifying the geographic distribution of dyads or linked cases of intimate partner homicide-suicide. Relying on data collected from the Internet through digitized media reports on intimate partner homicide-suicide, I expect to conduct scientific analyses of paired cases or dyads to assess or examine the quality and quantity of coverage. These analyses will explore how accurately and comprehensively the media portrays the intimate, violent relationship. In addition, geographic site data will be analyzed using ESRI, software that will establish geographic distribution across the United States.