TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Trend of homicide-suicide in Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan): comparison with western countries
JO  - Medicine, science, and the law
A1  - Satoh, Fumiko
A1  - Osawa, Motoki
SP  - 258
EP  - 263
VL  - 56
IS  - 4
N2  - We examined 169 deceased persons and 76 homicide-suicide cases reported in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture from 1999 to 2011. The relationships between homicide-suicide perpetrators and homicide victims; the numbers of victims; their age, sex, causes and places of death; motivation; and the presence or absence of a suicide note were extracted and examined. The relationship between homicide-suicide perpetrators and homicide victims was examined based on findings from the following: 24 married couples (31%), 22 parents and children aged ≥18 years (29%), 19 parents and children aged ≤17 years (25%), seven families (9%), two couples (3%) and two miscellaneous relationships (3%). The perpetrators comprised 39 men and 40 women, with a mean age of 51.6 years. The victims comprised 39 men and 51 women, with a mean age of 35.4 years. In our study, approximately half of the perpetrators were female, which differed greatly from the reports from Western countries, where most perpetrators were male. Homicide-suicides among married couples accounted for a higher proportion of overall homicide-suicide deaths in Western countries. In Japan, homicide-suicide occurred more frequently with parents and children. Cases in which a mother committed suicide after having killed her young children accounted for a high proportion of these deaths. Because these events occur so frequently in Japan, we recommend making particular efforts to reduce homicide-suicides among mothers and children.<br><br>© The Author(s) 2016.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0025-8024
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802416668769
ID  - ref1
ER  -