Why Do They Kill?: Men Who Murder Their Intimate Partners by David Adams

by David Adams

Moving backwards from the murders they committed through their adult lives, relationship histories, and their childhoods, the author sought to understand what motivates the men to kill. The patterns he found reveal that the murders were neither impulsive crimes of passion nor were they indiscriminate. Why Do They Kill? is the first book to profile different types of wife killers, and to examine the courtship patterns of abusive men. The author shows that wife murders are not, for the most part, “crimes of passion,” but culminations of lifelong predisposing factors of the men who murder, and that many elements of their crimes are foretold by their past behavior in intimate relationships. Key turning points of these relationships include the first emergence of the man's violence, his blaming of the victim, her attempts to resist, his escalation, her attempts to end the relationship, and his punishment for her defiance. Critical perspective on the men's accounts comes from interviews with victims of attempted homicide (standing in for the murder victims) who survived shootings, stabbings, and strangulation. These women detail their partner's escalating patterns of child abuse, sexual violence, terroristic threats, and stalking. The section on help-seeking patterns of victims helps to dispel notions of “learned helplessness” among victims.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Audiobook, Psychology

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Adams spends as much time as possible in the Australian bush, honing survival skills, gold, treasure fossicking, and hunting feral animals throughout Australia. He served as an Officer in the Australian Army Reserve during the post-Vietnam era. Dave has trained alongside members of the United States Marine Corps and Special Air Services SAS personnel. Serving his last two years in the A.D.F as a Platoon Commander Military Police provided him with exposure to law enforcement working closely with his civilian counterparts in the Queensland Police Service. Dave relies on this real-life experience to provide him with authentic characters, settings, and a knowledge of military equipment and procedures. He continues to travel the world in search of exciting settings and characters that he hopes will transport his readers to these exotic places while adding a reality to his books.
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Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most depressing thing I remember from this book was the suggestion that as help has become more available to battered women, the homicide of battered women has risen. In other words, if they seek help and the batterer is punished by the legal system, he is that much more likely to eventually murder the victim.

There are some really interesting insights into the personality of a batterer, a combination of a selfish sense of entitlement and general contempt of women. It still doesn't explain what makes some people become violent, when certainly many people seem to have the same predispositions or problems with their personalities. The paranoid preoccupation with oneself, with how everything other people do is about them, and usually an insult to them, is a common theme in a lot of mental illness, depression and anxiety. To me it almost seems like half the men I know, particularly men between the ages of 40 and 55, see the world this way, that everything is about them, and perceived insults to their honor. It reminds me of George Costanza on Seinfeld, and how he thinks people (especially women) are putting themselves above him when they really usually hadn't even noticed him. I remember once reading an article about that character, how he represents a generation of paranoid, insecure men. But relatively few people, and almost no women, physically abuse others as a result of this. It made me wonder if it is question of degree, or if there is something intrinsically different about the batterer.

During the time I was reading this book, I was also reading a lot online about a variety of domestic crimes, and pondering how women are more likely to kill children, while men are more likely to kill their intimate partners.

Another thing I was wondering about was data about gay men battering their partners. Since gay men are men, I would imagine the pattern is similar, but then again, society being misogynistic, it might not play out the same for a male victim.

[Mary MacKintosh]

Good information, but based on a very small sample of batterers.

[HoneyBakedAmbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book to 99% of people, but it’s an excellent window into real domestic violence cases that ended in tragedy.

[Haley La · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical reading for anyone else working in victim advocacy

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is totally different than what I thought it would be. When I had first signed up to read the book, I thought I was reading something in the true crime genre. It wasn't. This is a clinical book. On that note, I think it would be good for either a college student or someone who is new to the study of Battered Women Syndrome. As someone who had studied this subject during my time as an addiction counselor, I was familiar with the better chunk of information in this book. I must state that I even think I read an earlier edition of this book, as the information and how it was presented was very familiar. The experienced professional would more than likely find it remedial.

I would recommend the purchase of this book in print versus ebook. There is critical data that didn't format well in the ebook.