Gender, Attributional Styles, and Direction of Lethal Violence

Abstract

The present study is a partial test of Unnithan, Huff-Corzine, Corzine, and Whitt's integrated model of suicide and homicide, focusing specifically on gender differences in the suicide-to-homicide ratio (SHR). In light of prior research on the differential attributional styles of men and women, the underlying assumption of Unnithan et al. regarding attribution of blame and direction of lethal violence is assessed. Using aggregate national suicide and homicide rates for the years 1979 through 1997, SHRs and lethal violence rates (LVRs) are calculated and compared by gender. Analyses reveal that women's SHRs are substantially higher than those for men. In addition, it is found that trends in LVRs over time are significantly different for men and women, exhibiting a cyclical pattern in the case of men and a linear pattern in the case of women. Implications of these findings for the integrated model and for future research are discussed.