Family murders in South Africa The goal of research into ‘Family Murders in South Africa' was to determine the views of members of the Criminological Society of Southern Africa concerning family murder. The hypothesis was that these informed persons would agree with the statements made by academics in the press regarding this phenomenon. The research substantiated the hypothesis. The dominant psychological causes were listed as feelings of rejection, stress, emotional burn-out and pathological possessiveness. The sociological causes were listed as alienation between spouses and misuse of alcohol. The warning signs included previous suicide attempts, unsuccessful attempts to restore broken marriages, unemployment, physical assault, fathers retreating from the family and neighbours and obsessive handling of dangerous weapons. Based on the findings of the research, a list identifying causes, warning signs, explanations, and methods of prevention was drawn up.
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