title: So long as they both shall live: marital dissolution and the decline of domestic homicide in France, 1852-1909.
abstract: This article suggests that the growth of European states, the decline of familism, and the rise of individualism generated the institutionalization of judicial separation and divorce. Time-series analyses of France (1852-1908) reveal a persistent negative association between separation/divorce and domestic homicide, especially among males. Neither indicators of economic change nor trends in the wider pattern of violent crime account for the relationship. Although marital dissolution is a negative correlate of premeditated domestic homicide, the rate of separation/divorce is directly associated with spontaneous domestic homicide, for both females and males and may indicate that abandoned spouses can become homicidal.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gillis
mesh_terms: D004243:Divorce / Q000266:history*; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006708:Homicide / Q000266:history*; D008393:Marriage / Q000266:history*; D011157:Population Dynamics