Homicide

Homicide is defined as one person taking the life of another person or persons. Homicide can be intentional and planned or unintentional or unplanned (e.g., cases arising out of self-defense or violence or neglect not intended to end in death). Dependent upon the details, homicide may or may not be considered a criminal act, such as in the case of self-defense. It is therefore important to separate the act of killing from any criminal definitions when conceptualizing the offense. This entry examines homicide within couples and families and considers several common risk factors. This entry pays specific attention to intimate partner homicide, familicide, and filicide.